He doesn't have flashy numbers and doesn't play a flashy style, but New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech is wildly important to the fortunes of his club. That was abundantly clear when the defensive-defenseman sustained a season-ending injury in January.
Pelech tore his chilies tendon playing one-touch soccer in the warm-up before a game against the New Jersey Devils at the Coliseum. Just like that, he was gone for the season.
We knew that Pelech was important to the Islanders plans, but we didn't quite know the full extent of his impact on the team until he was out of the lineup.