Two months ago, the Flyers honored ironman Keith Yandle. The 35-year-old veteran of 17 seasons received a special ceremony, and deservedly so, after setting the NHL record playing in his 965th straight game.
On Saturday the Flyers unceremoniously ended Yandle’s streak at 989 games to roll with their new initiative — more playing time for young defensemen Cam York, Ronnie Attard and Nick Seeler.
By pulling the rug from under Yandle, the organization seemingly left Flyers Nation wondering why, with just 15 games left in a brutal season, they wouldn’t let him play 11 more in a row to reach 1,000?
Hopefully the Flyers had enough budget left for a third ceremony, even if it would have had to be less exotic than the Claude Giroux bash, G playing in his 1,000th game for the Flyers before cleaning out his locker and joining Florida.
“I talked to Chuck (Fletcher), and obviously they’ve filled me in on what’s going to happen,” Yandle said of being a healthy scratch. “It’s kind of been one of those things toward the end of the year when you’re signing young guys and getting free agents out of college, and they’re going to give them a chance to play. You’ve got to respect the business side of it. I think for me now, it’s just continuing to come to the rink and help guys, be a good teammate and be here for guys.”
Yandle unquestionably was having a tough season. With a minus-39 plus-minus the vet was last in the NHL (974th overall). Then again, he was over-exposed by the coaching staff. Ryan Ellis was supposed to play extensively. He was supposed to be the point on the power play. But Ellis injured his groin and Yandle took on an expanded role.
Flyers interim coach Mike Yeo, who has played the role of heavy this year, tried his best to frame the demotion of Yandle as a positive. Yeo framed it as “an organizational decision” to play the younger defensemen going forward.
“Keith received it exactly the way you would expect,” Yeo said. “He is nothing but a phenomenal pro. He handled it extremely well; obviously disappointed, which you would expect from a competitor and a hockey player that’s been doing that for as long as he has. My only hope is that he just recognizes how amazing it is what he’s done. Obviously for sure, for him it’s disappointing, no question. But not many people can say they’ve done what nobody in the history of the NHL has ever done. No way does this diminish what he’s accomplished. It is remarkable and something for him to be extremely proud of.”
The Flyers have drawn criticism for not properly developing some of their younger players. Defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who played seven years with the club before being traded to Chicago at the deadline in 2014, took a shot at his old employer on his podcast. Timonen questioned the sense of Yandle playing on the power play instead of York. Yeo indicated York will get an extended look in manpower advantages.
“This doesn’t mean that Yans maybe plays tomorrow or the game after that,” Yeo said. “This is the decision we made for tonight. That decision was made in the best interests of the Philadelphia Flyers going forward here. Sometimes those are tough decisions that you have to make. But I think we can all agree that we’re real excited to see what a guy like Cam can continue to do for us. What a guy like Ronnie can come in and do for us tonight. Nick Seeler really never has had a chance to play on the left side for us all year, so he’s going to do that.”
Yandle played nine seasons with the Arizona-Phoenix Coyotes, who drafted him in 2006, five with Florida and two with the New York Rangers. On Saturday Yandle was a healthy scratch for the first time since March 22, 2009, in Phoenix’s 6-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. With one goal and 14 assists this season, he saw this coming. His one-year contract expires after this season.
“The last couple of days has been a lot of reflecting,” Yandle said. “And I’m not really a guy that reflects that much so it kind of hits you a little bit. … All the teammates, all the guys that have gone to bat for me, just special guys that I’ve played with are a lot of what I’ve been thinking of. Guys that have stuck up for me and have had my back. That’s probably what I reflected on most.”
Yandle vows to continue to try to provide a veteran presence in the locker room to the younger players.
“They felt bad for me,” Yandle said. “They wanted me to play, they wanted me to keep (the streak) going. But like I told guys it’s part of the business. You’ve got to understand what the team is doing here. But having the guys in there and their support has been really, really special.”
Thus, Western Michigan product Attard made his NHL debut Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was paired with Seeler.
