Fare Thee Well, Noble Prince
February 12th, 2010, 12:46 pm
Donald who?
True to Doug Wilson form, a move has been made that I think will surprise almost everybody, yet make sense when you hear it. Jody Shelley has been traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for “a draft pick”, according to TSN. This, coming after the Rangers drop Donald Brashear like a bad habit. Given that the Sharks only gave up a 6th round to get Shelley in the first place, it’s likely only a seventh rounder changed hands, but this is primarily a cap-clearing move. Shelley’s $700k, while not onerous, gives the Sharks a little bit more room now that Nic “Nic, the Nickname” Wallin is now in town. While I know the feelings about Shelley’s efficacy on the ice have been all over the map, I personally will miss him a little bit. Sure, he’s not the best hockey player I’ve ever seen, but he seemed like a really good and generous person, and was someone Randy Hahn picked to possibly move into the broadcaster’s booth some day. He could surprise you sometimes, like just this week when he beat Colton Orr into next:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2Qtef3DECI[/youtube]
I’m also reminded of the Jumbotron interview when players were asked three things to bring to a desert island. One of Shelley’s choices was “a can of beans”.
So, strong tough man with two women’s names, we wish you the very best. And hope to hear you in the booth some day. Now, we have to think there’s more to come, don’t we?
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That makes me wish even more that he’d scored last night in front of the net, instead of ringing it off the crossbar. Here in Cleveland we only got the Detroit feed on Center Ice (their announcers are total homers, by the way), and the color guy said “well, all I can say is the Red Wings are lucky that was Jody Shelley.”
My favorite memory of Shelley was the Shark Byte where J.T. Snow suits up in goal and the two of them are goofing around on the ice. As a hockey player, though, I can’t say I’ll really miss him.
I have to agree with Mike on this one. I’m going to miss Shelley’s character, but not his play.
This move was inevitable. He was either going to be traded or unsigned at the end of the season.
I agree with you on blowing a relatively easy chance to score. Good guy, but I think Scotty Nichol will do just find as he seemed to piss off a number of Wings last night. Heres hoping DW makes a move with that freed up cap space for some Defensive depth.
I agree DW doesn’t make this trade without another one in mind. But that move could be a permanent promotion for McGinn or Demers. I’d say McGinn is more probable. There could be another guy not noted too…
He was an awesomely funny guy. I agree though, that he..ya know, wasn’t a great player. I will definitely miss his character on and off the ice though.
Our friend EJ sums it up well. “Another odd move by Glen Sather.”
http://twitter.com/EJHradek_ESPN
Wallin’s nickname has to be “the Machine” based on his first television interview. About Shelley, sad to see him go but the Sharks will be better with a fourth line of Ferreiro-Mitchell-McCarthy-McLaren or Couture. Shelley has not been winning a lot of fights this season or last either, I think he would do better to pick his spots, fight less but more effectively.
Seems “loved the guy, wasn’t very good” is the common theme. Now that even Mitchell and Vlasic have shown a willingness to stand up for themselves, a designated enforcer was not necessary.
Speaking of that post, I wonder if that post made Wilson pull the trigger. The best teams in the league (WAS, CHI, DET) run four lines deep. Nobody on those teams play 4-5 minutes every night, let alone two guys a la Shelly and Staubitz.
Now that the Sharks are so far out ahead of the field besides CHI, I would love to see TMac rolling the lines for awhile after the break, both to give confidence to the bottom guys and to show trust in them, and to ease up the minutes on the Olympians. At full strength, a 3rd line of Clowe-Nichol-Ortmeyer and a 4th line of McGinn-Mitchell-Helminen should be able to split 22-23 minutes a night. To keep the stars fresh. Presidents Cup is overrated anyways.
Another thing… With the NHL on break this essentially gives DW alot of time to watch the AHL guys and maybe open it up a little for guys to compete for a spot. If a trade does happen after the break maybe two spots could be open.
How about Nic “the 6th d-man.” We’ve got roughly two more weeks to make our blue line Stanley Cup caliber. Let’s get ‘r done, Doug Wilson!
Hamburgees.
When looking at the numbers, I don’t think this move did anything more than allowed us to fit Wallin under the cap without anyone going on LTIR. I’m actually pretty sad over this. I really liked Shelley. It was a completely irrational love, and my head knows all the shortcomings he has and knows this is a good move for the team on the ice…but he was such an asset to the organization off the ice, its really sad to see him go.
I’m surprised by the move, but I think DW viewed Shelley as a useful part for the regular season, but not to be trusted (or needed with less fights) in the playoffs… Job done for this year, so may as well get something back for him.
Forget about Shelley. Keep your eyes on the prize. The Hawks just got Kim Johnsson. Time for DW to do his thing and bolster our blue line before the trade deadline. Go Sharks!
The Hawks also just lost Cam Barker. Not exactly a move that forces DW to pull any triggers.