A Defence That Will Break Down

Early in the season, it is interesting to watch the number of shifts and playing time of players on various teams.  When a team is overplaying a handful of key players early in the season, it is quite likely that these players will fatigue and break down over the course of the year.  This is a cause of concern.  The team with the largest area of concern in this area is the Philadelphia Flyers defence.  The three leading players in shifts per game, at this point in the season, are Braydon Coburn, Kimmo Timonen and Chris Pronger.  They have 35.4, 34.4 and 33.6 shifts per game played respectively.  Pronger tends to play longer shifts - so he is their icetime leader despite fewer shifts. This is a situation that will likely not be able to be kept up all season. These players will break down from overwork.  This becomes even more likely when one considers that Pronger is 35 years old and Timonen is 34.  Both are on the downsides of their careers where injuries become more likely.