Ghost Sighting

Last night the Flyers clawed their way to victory against the Wings, despite being outshot 24-8 after two periods.  The turning point of the game was a nice scoring play by the Flyers go-to scoring combo of Chris VandeVelde and Nicklas Grossmann.  Not exactly a well-deserved win, but I'll take it after coming up empty-handed in better performances a few weeks ago.

The real noteworthy thing about last night's game was the debut of Shayne Gostisbehere.  I've seen "Ghost" play a handful of times (including the NCAA championship game last year in person), and he is a very exciting player.  Fast, sleek, skilled, and aggressive on offense.  He is, however, still far from being a complete NHL defensemen.  He's going to have to learn to pick his spots carefully in the fast-paced NHL game, and in terms of raw physical strength it is not an exaggeration to say that he would be one of the weakest defensemen in the NHL.

Hextall has been telling everyone who will listen that he prefers to let young players develop slowly in the lower ranks.  Morin and Ghost looked pretty good in the preseason; good enough that in years past Clarke or Holmgren would've have kept such young talent on the roster.  It wasn't enough for Hextall, who is more concerned about where these young players will in 3 years than giving this year's NHL roster an incremental boost.

Nothing has changed from that plan, and Ghost is only here because of injuries to Coburn and MacDonald.  This is by no means a permanent call-up, and I'd be very surprised if Ghost is still on the Flyers roster after MacDonald and Coburn return.  Based on his ice time last night, he might not even last that long.

Ghost got almost 3 minutes of PP time on the second unit in MacDonald's spot, but played less that 10 minutes at even strength.  This was several minutes less than any other Flyers defensemen.  Surely part of that is easing him into his first real NHL game, but Flyers fans shouldn't be under any delusions that Ghost figures to be a key player for the Flyers anytime soon.

Until the inevitable recall to the AHL happens, I'll just enjoy seeing a glimpse of the Flyers future.  Even if it's just a few games, I expect Ghost to make a few tantalizing plays.  You could say this Ghost sighting will be like so many other ghost sightings; ephemeral, but intriguing.