Harrold staying put

Peter Harrold will play his fifth consecutive game as a defenseman tonight, as Randy Jones will again be a healthy scratch. It remains to be seen what will happen when Davis Drewiske returns from his shoulder injury — possibly as soon as one week from today — but for now, Harrold has earned the satisfaction of coach Terry Murray.

In his last four games, Harrold has a plus-2 rating and has been a solid complement to his partner, most recently Jack Johnson. Murray was asked today about Harrold, and whether his continued inclusion in the lineup is a reflection of good play.

MURRAY: “It’s a combination. I do like what Peter has brought. He has been very competitive and played well, with composure. But on the other side of that, I didn’t like what Randy Jones was bringing. I really felt that his game was distracted. He was not moving his feet and doing the things that he did so well for us when he first joined the hockey club. Players go through those spells, when you’re coming back from an injury. You have the adrenaline rush for the first couple games, and then you take a big drop again. That seems to be where he is at. I feel he needs time to get his legs going again, to really get a push on the skating side of it. That opened up an opportunity for Peter.”

12 Comments

  1. Marc Nathan says:

    …and one day management will wake up and say, “A FORWARD???? What were we thinking?”

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  2. Barry's Mullet says:

    Jones reads the play well in the offensive zone but no compete level in our end. I’m guessing this is why the Flyers waived him.

    Harry deserves the opportunity…he’s a perfect 6th defenseman competes hard and can actually skate with the puck. Lets hope DL sticks with him and we don’t see Jones the rest of the season.

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  3. Cynic says:

    Good. I like Harry’s play right now. More beneficial to the back end than Jones right now for sure and he is throwing in some aggressiveness in the O-Zone also. Obviously that comes from the confidence of playing forward, which I’m pretty sure management thought of as a benefit to his game IF he was to make it this far in the NHL.

    When DD2 comes back, we play 7 and DD2 is the #7 with Harry playing on the 4th line as a forward once in a while. When DD2 is 100% after a few games under his belt, DD2 gose to #6, Harry to #7 and you still run him on the 4th line, unless Purcell starts to play like Parse or Simmonds.

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  4. goldielocks says:

    I think his defensive play has surprisingly improved. I could still see a few mistakes but considering his absence they were fairly acceptable. I really want to see his play more.

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  5. iansez says:

    He’s played great! Cool to see him get rewarded, it can’t be easy being a scratch for so long. Gotta love this depth on D at the moment, lets hope they all stay healthy and sharp and dear old SOD gets the odd game off..)

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  6. Dominick says:

    At times this season I tried to lobby for Harrold on deffense.Not so much because I had the forsight to see how effective he would be,but because of the revolving door we’ve had since the injuries started to mount.I new that was his natural position,and that he’d been here long enough to know what to do.

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  7. Dominick says:

    That came out wrong.It should of been”Not because I had the forsight”.

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  8. dirtmover says:

    hey he earned it – good for him- now if that total busy hickey could get it together that would be nice – 4th player taken – shades of Ryan Leaf-

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  9. What's the frequency, Kenneth? says:

    One wonders whether Harry is in a position to help Jack improve his game or whether Jack will even listen to anything he has to say. I’m not a coach or anything, but I’m thinking Jack needs to be paired with Scuds or Greener.

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  10. Deader2818 says:

    Isn’t Hickey Injured? Isn’t this also HIS FIRST FULL SEASON IN THE AHL?

    Jesus people, lay off the kid. Hes 20 years old and every is ready to call him a bust >_>

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  11. dirtmover says:

    good point deader – my beef is 4th overall – other players I thought warranted the pick is all – again 20 is young to declare a bust -

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  12. Dominick says:

    dirtmover,
    Alot of people thought that was a gamble.Even alot of proffessional analysts.He would have gone in the first round thogh.Only time will tell whether this was a brilliant move.I agree it is too soon to call it a bust.

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