Big update on the controversial decision regarding Yandle and the Flyers
We told you about it this morning and it is now confirmed. Keith Yandle is not on the ice for his team's warm-up and so the Philadelphia Flyers have (controversially) decided to leave out their veteran defenseman Yandle for today's home game, thus ending his incredible streak.
Despite popular pressure, they are moving forward with the decision and have not changed their mind.
Yandle is healthy, he would be perfectly capable of playing, but Flyers head coach Mike Yeo simply chose to scratch him from the lineup and skip his turn.
Why is there so much talk and reaction?
Keith Yandle is currently on an amazing streak of 989 games played (in a row), without missing a single game in between. That's really incredible. However, that streak ends tonight, unfortunately.
Remember that he recently broke the all-time NHL record (which was 964 consecutive games), and he was going to break the 1000 mark.
On top of that, the Flyers are completely out of the playoff race and they already have a few injuries on the blue line. Several NHL players and GMs have already (anonymously) commented on the decision saying it was an "odd" decision, a strange decision and even, horrible.
It may seem trivial, but it's the kind of sequence that NHL players and executives respect a lot. Believe me.
It's unheard of in the history of the league (a player playing 1000 games in a row) and now the Flyers are preventing Yandle from reaching that milestone, even though the games no longer mean anything to them.
Let's also add that Yandle is a highly respected veteran in the locker room and in the league. In short, the "Iron Man steak" is over for him.
The last game he missed was in March 2009, over 13 years ago.
Here's what Yandle had to say about the situation:
| POLL | ||
Do you agree with the Flyers' decision to scratch Yandle? | ||
| Yes, it�s part of the game | 49 | 17.3 % |
| No | 234 | 82.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
