I think some have an inflated view of Carle's acumen as a puck mover and pointman. It's not like if Carle was here that he'd be winning those physical puck battles along the D zone boards and getting the puck out so much better than the guys here now...he's just not that guy. Also, when you look at it, besides the occasional risky stretch passes and/or passes across the middle, most of Carle's "first passes" were simple passes to his D partner who then made the pass up to a forward or skated it out of the zone (think back, how many times he would just get it to Timo who would confidently carry the puck out before getting it to a forward, or to Pronger who would often gain the zone by firing a shot on net once past the red line)...and Carle rarely skated the puck out of the zone himself. He was also pretty underwhelming from the point. In certain ways, it makes sense to want Carle to still be around...a top 4 is injured Timo is banged up, the new faces aren't exactly finding their game with the team (yet)...yes, it would have been a nice luxury to have Carle to pick up some slack...but he's just not worth what he's being paid and that ship had to sail. I think he's not an anchor type D that Tampa paid him to be and they have one of the worst D's in the league to show for it. There are guys on the team that are more than capable of making a good firts pass or even skating it up ice...Timo, Mez, Gusty, Grossman, Schenn, Coburn...Matt Carle didn't bring anything special that the team now sorely lacks.
Edit...he does have a very good active stick and is good in blocking shots with it, but his failure to complement/follow up his stick checks with taking the body made him prone to being beat by skilled or poweful players and being beat along the boards and in the slot. - phantasm
The funniest thing about watching this game is, whenever the Isles got any kind of sustained pressure, the Flyers would get a penalty and they'd smother the Isles PK-or the Isles would be busy shooting themselves in the foot.
I think some have an inflated view of Carle's acumen as a puck mover and pointman. It's not like if Carle was here that he'd be winning those physical puck battles along the D zone boards and getting the puck out so much better than the guys here now...he's just not that guy. Also, when you look at it, besides the occasional risky stretch passes and/or passes across the middle, most of Carle's "first passes" were simple passes to his D partner who then made the pass up to a forward or skated it out of the zone (think back, how many times he would just get it to Timo who would confidently carry the puck out before getting it to a forward, or to Pronger who would often gain the zone by firing a shot on net once past the red line)...and Carle rarely skated the puck out of the zone himself. He was also pretty underwhelming from the point. In certain ways, it makes sense to want Carle to still be around...a top 4 is injured Timo is banged up, the new faces aren't exactly finding their game with the team (yet)...yes, it would have been a nice luxury to have Carle to pick up some slack...but he's just not worth what he's being paid and that ship had to sail. I think he's not an anchor type D that Tampa paid him to be and they have one of the worst D's in the league to show for it. There are guys on the team that are more than capable of making a good firts pass or even skating it up ice...Timo, Mez, Gusty, Grossman, Schenn, Coburn...Matt Carle didn't bring anything special that the team now sorely lacks.
Edit...he does have a very good active stick and is good in blocking shots with it, but his failure to complement/follow up his stick checks with taking the body made him prone to being beat by skilled or poweful players and being beat along the boards and in the slot. - phantasm
I wanna know who these "new faces" are.... - Giroux_Is_God
Honestly I'm more impressed by the fact that Carle was able to rack up the 15th highest assist total among NHL d-men last season by just dumping the puck off to Timonen. Despite watching almost every game he played in a Flyer uniform, this is an aspect of his game that I had totally missed.
I mean, I just assumed he got all his assists like other d-men (outlet passes, shots from the point, etc., etc.). To think that all this time Carle limited himself to only dump offs to his D partner, and still racked up all those assists.
mind. blown.
And we totally should have re-signed him. At ANY price. That way we could trade him instead of Couturier for that young, inexperienced goalie we so desperately need. Would have been so perfect. Way to totally screw that one up Holmgren.
Honestly I'm more impressed by the fact that Carle was able to rack up the 15th highest assist total among NHL d-men last season by just dumping the puck off to Timonen. Despite watching almost every game he played in a Flyer uniform, this is an aspect of his game that I had totally missed.
I mean, I just assumed he got all his assists like other d-men (outlet passes, shots from the point, etc., etc.). To think that all this time Carle limited himself to only dump offs to his D partner, and still racked up all those assists.
mind. blown.
And we totally should have re-signed him. At ANY price. That way we could trade him instead of Couturier for that young, inexperienced goalie we so desperately need. Would have been so perfect. Way to totally screw that one up Holmgren. - BringBack25
Love that your screen name was destined for this post.
Honestly I'm more impressed by the fact that Carle was able to rack up the 15th highest assist total among NHL d-men last season by just dumping the puck off to Timonen. Despite watching almost every game he played in a Flyer uniform, this is an aspect of his game that I had totally missed.
I mean, I just assumed he got all his assists like other d-men (outlet passes, shots from the point, etc., etc.). To think that all this time Carle limited himself to only dump offs to his D partner, and still racked up all those assists.
mind. blown.
And we totally should have re-signed him. At ANY price. That way we could trade him instead of Couturier for that young, inexperienced goalie we so desperately need. Would have been so perfect. Way to totally screw that one up Holmgren. - BringBack25
And the Season before that the 11th highest total of assists among defenseman in the League. Man, we need to get our defenseman currently on the team to start dumping the puck off to their D partner more! Not to mention that he rarely played with Timonen. Yep, that was Carle, just pass it off to his D partner, and then get off the ice before he does something silly. For 23 minutes a game he did that. All assists were purely accidental. One of the top scoring D men at even strength came from just giving it to his D partner!
And the Season before that the 11th highest total of assists among defenseman in the League. Man, we need to get our defenseman currently on the team to start dumping the puck off to their D partner more! Not to mention that he rarely played with Timonen. Yep, that was Carle, just pass it off to his D partner, and then get off the ice before he does something silly. For 23 minutes a game he did that. All assists were purely accidental. One of the top scoring D men at even strength came from just giving it to his D partner! - MJL
Secondary assist king. Thats what he is called in his native country of Alaska.
