Quote:
Originally Posted by GranteedEV
Let's think for a second that Engelland has been a + player not once in 14 straight games.
Since Russell got hurt, Engelland was the automatic bump to the 2nd pair. What has he done there? 43% possession, and the Flames have scored 38.5% of the goals with him on the ice at ES. They've scored 52.4% of the goals with him off the ice at ES.
Whether or not Engelland "doesn't deserve to sit" (translation: veteran preference is weighed over merit), whatever Hartley is doing right now with Engelland is not working and we need a shakeup. His fear of "it could be worse" is preventing "it" from ever getting better.
Engelland is the new Chris Butler. An AHLer being played in over his head as a top 4 guy.
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Who crushed multiple Flyers last game? Engelland.
Throw the possession metrics out for a second and look at the makeup of our defense. It is a little lacking in the physical, defensive defensemen. So what are the chance we scratch the only one of them? Pretty much zero. Hartley wants us to play hard down the stretch. Engelland plays the toughest, meanest game out of any of our d-men. Engelland is going to make the other team pay the price along the boards and certainly did last game.
Yes Engelland was playing in over his head in the top 4. Doesn't mean he should suddenly be a scratch. The role he fills (physical, defensive defenseman) isn't filled by anyone else on the team right now unless Jokipakka is a similar player. Arguably we're shorter on that role then we should be. You can't scratch a guy when he's the only player filling that important role on the team.