5/27 Kronwall Quick Hits
Similar to my BTJ quick links, these are the quick hits of articles/blogs about BTJ favorite Niklas Kronwall. There are way too many great articles about the Wings for me to round up, but George Malik at Snapshots has done a great job in that regard.
ESPN’s Conn Smythe Watch has Kronner as their #3 choice for the playoff MVP trophy.
3. NIKLAS KRONWALL
• Stats — Games: 18; PTS: 12; +/-: 13; PIM: 16; SOG: 19; ATOI: 22:15.
• Summary: Once again, Kronwall was a physical terror. Kronwall sent Jarkko Ruutu flying early on with a wonderful open-ice hit at the Penguins blue line. Hits like that may explain why you can’t find Petr Sykora and a number of other Penguins forwards with a magnifying glass.
[Upward] Trend: Kronwall again helped set the tone early for Detroit.
Bob Duff of the Windsor Star makes the case that the Penguins can’t get their forecheck going or put pressure on the Wings because of the talent of the Wings’ defense.
Alright, move to the second pair then, Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall.
Will they cave?
Don’t think so. Stuart and Kronwall are a combined plus-32 in the playoffs. Kronwall is crunching everything in sight with punishing bodychecks and Stuart scored the game-winner Tuesday, his first playoff goal since 2004.
People talk about Detroit’s puck-possession game, but no team can play that style without a smart, mobile, puck-moving blue-line corps.
“If you get back and you get the puck going in a hurry and you put it on the tape, your forwards are way faster,” Babcock said. “Where if it’s NHL’d out - in other words, banged off of the glass - it’s hard to have speed through the neutral zone.”
In Game #1, Kronwall’s hit on Ryan Malone resulted in a broken nose for the Penguin.
Malone suffered a broken nose in Game 1, courtesy of a hit dished out by Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall, the third broken nose of his career.
“I broke it and they just pushed it back over,” he said. “I don’t mind. I need 11 more to catch my dad.”
His father, Greg Malone, played for the Penguins and later scouted for them. Greg Malone now works for the Phoenix Coyotes.
On Saturday night, Kronwall properly introduced Malone to Detroit. Last night? It was Jarkko Ruutu’s turn.
KRONWALL A BIG HIT: Wings defenceman Niklas Kronwall isn’t very big – he’s listed very generously at 6 feet, 189 pounds – but he lays a huge hit. Jordan Staal and Ryan Malone were on the receiving end of a pair of mid-ice hits on Saturday night. “I’ve always enjoyed that part of the game,” said Kronwall, whose brother Staffan plays for the Maple Leafs.
And as this article suggests, he is certainly helping to break the stereotype of a soft Swede.
The player getting hit is clearly not expecting to be slammed there, but it’s legal and Kronvall actually admits to waiting until the puck is heading towards the receiver before making the decision to seek and destroy.
And though at 6 feet and 190 pounds he is relatively tiny for a defenceman, that’s exactly what he does.
“I never think about it like that, because what we’re talking about as a team is being physical as possible and it’s something I’ve always done,” said Kronvall, who’s had three seasons interrupted by three serious injuries, a broken leg in the first year, a torn ACL, and last season a broken sacrum. Can’t imagine why.
Update: Courtesy of the updated game notes from last night.
Red Wings’ Stuart, Kronwall, Draper pad plus-minus rating:
Red Wings defensemen Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall and center Kris Draper each have posted a +6 rating through two games of the Stanley Cup Final. They recorded +3 ratings in the 4-0 Detroit victory in Game 1 and also were +3 in tonight’s 3-0 win.
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