Archive for the 'Niklas Kronwall' CategoryPage 2 of 4

2/4 Practice Update

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 4, 2008
in Injuries, Lines and Niklas Kronwall
. 0 Comments

… Bruce MacLeod reports that Niklas Kronwall skated today with the team for the first time since his injury on Wednesday.

As good as that news is, it was countered by some bad news: new MRI results have indicated that Kronwall will be out longer than the 10 days originally reported. No specifics were provided, though Kronwall used the words, “a little bit longer than 10 days.” That could mean anything from two to three weeks.

Any setbacks in the recovery process would likely force Ken Holland to make a move for a defenseman, as the trade deadline is fast approaching.

Ryan Doherty says Kronwall wanted to be back by Saturday’s game in Toronto, but that is obviously not likely due to this latest development.  Nik will make the trip to Minnesota with the team, however, so that he can continue on-ice rehab.

… In another post, MacLeod shows that Mike Babcock has mixed up the lines a little since the Boston game, promoting Valtteri Filppula back to the second line:

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Hudler-Filppula-Cleary
Kopecky-Franzen-Samuelsson
Drake-Draper-Maltby

That third line has some good size to it, and Cleary’s wrecking ball style should give Hudler anf Filppula plenty of room.

Niklas Kronwall injures shoulder

Published
by
Matt Saler
on January 31, 2008
in Injuries and Niklas Kronwall
. 3 Comments

Update (7:47 PM): I should note that I was, of course, wrong on the Hay PTO, which was completely unrelated to Kronwall’s injury. Bad guess on my part. - Matt

Update (3:08 PM): Good news: Ryan Doherty reports that the results of a CT scan of Kronwall’s shoulder were negative, which means there is no tear. Bruce MacLeod calls it a sprained shoulder.

Nik himself told Doherty he’ll be out a week, though Ansar Khan puts it at 10 days.  Apparently because the injury is not as serious as it seemed at first, the team has decided not to call up anyone from Grand Rapids.

Also, according to Doherty, Brett Lebda (wrist) will return to the lineup Friday after sitting out last night’s game. - Matt

Update (10:16 AM): The AHL transaction wire indicates that the Griffins have signed defenseman Darrell Hay to a professional tryout, which should mean news of the call-up of either Kyle Quincey or Jonathan Ericsson is coming soon. - Matt

Update (10:00 AM): George Malik clarifies the injury, calling it a “sternoclavicular cartilage” issue. It’s Kronwall’s sternum, not strictly his shoulder, that was hurt on the play. - Matt

Update (9:58 AM): Thanks to Megan for posting the following comment on the possible call-ups below:

Of the two that could be called up, Ericsson would be the better choice. He’s the second best defenseman on the team, posting a +4 rating and 19 points (via griffinshockey.com). Quincey has struggled more than usual this year. He is -3 with 9 points. From games that I’ve been to, you can see that he is not playing at the level he played at last season. He tends to lose the puck and this often leads to scoring chances for the opposing team.

- Matt

The Wings came back from a 2-1 deficit to beat the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2 in regulation last night, but they lost a key piece of their blueline in the process. At 10:50 of the third period, Niklas Kronwall went shoulder-first into the boards following a hit by Craig Weller and left the ice in pain.

Early reports are indicating it’s a clavicle injury - a shoulder injury, essentially. Piet Van Zant told Helene St. James more specifically that the injury is “to the joint that connects the sternum to the clavicle.” He’ll be out at least a week.

It’s already assumed that there is a tear in the cartiledge, but he’ll be undergoing an MRI to determine the extent of the damage, as noted by The Hockeytown Blog.  We should hear more today.

Ansar Khan reports that the Wings will call up either Jonathan Ericsson or Kyle Quincey while Kronwall is recovering. They could see the ice as soon as Friday due to Brett Lebda’s sore wrist. Babcock sees this as an opportunity to gauge the depth of the defense, as he told Bruce MacLeod:

“We’ve got some kids in the minors … that I wanted to look at anyways. We’ll find out what kind of depth we have.”

I’m told the Griffins’ defensemen haven’t exactly been stellar this season, so don’t expect standout performances.

We are just under four weeks from the trade deadline. If Kronwall’s injury turns out to be another of his season-ending deals and not a 1-2 week thing, we will almost certainly see Ken Holland make a move.

I only got to watch the first period of the game last night. I’ll probably have some comments on that later today.

11/8 Kronwall Update

Published
by
Matt Saler
on November 8, 2007
in Derek Meech, Links and Niklas Kronwall
. 0 Comments

According to Bruce MacCleod, Niklas Kronwall (groin) will return to the lineup tomorrow night against Columbus. Derek Meech will be back in the press box, unless Mike Babcock has been impressed enough with him to sit someone else, such as Andreas Lilja. Also, the status of Tomas Kopecky, Dallas Drake, Aaron Downey, and Matt Ellis will be determined at the morning skate tomorrow.

On Sopel

Published
by
Matt Saler
on September 12, 2007
in Andreas Lilja, Brent Sopel, Brett Lebda, Brian Rafalski, Chris Chelios, Nick Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall
. 3 Comments

Update (13. Sep, 12:22AM): Bruce MacLeod has posted a look at the situation and it’s a good read. He writes that the competition is between Sopel and Meech, not Lilja. At the onset, that’s exactly how it will be, but MacLeod admits that “[Sopel] could force Detroit’s hand into trading or cutting one of its top six defensemen.” If it came down to it, I’d guess that player would be Lilja, which would give Meech the 7th spot. Or the team would just carry 8 defensemen, which isn’t fair to the experienced player (Lebda or Lilja) that gets to share the skybox with Meech. Plus, it would create problems with the forward corps.

What problems? Well, if Grigorenko has a strong enough camp to make the team, and if the Wings want to keep Matt Ellis (a heart-and-soul player in GR ready to be one in Detroit), they’d need to carry 14 forwards (those two, plus Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Filppula, Cleary, Samuelsson, Franzen, Maltby, Draper, Drake, Hudler, Kopecky). 14 forwards plus 2 goalies plus 8 defensemen equals 24 players, one man over the limit of 23.

So, as already looked at by IwoCPO, if both Sopel and Grigorenko turn out to be good enough to make the team, someone’s on their way out. It’s going to be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Maybe Sopel will be a flop and all they’ll have to worry about is what to do with Igor and Ellis. - Matt

Ansar Khan has a blog post up with a few Babcock quotes on various topics, but one of the most interesting is this one on Brent Sopel, one of the Wings’ free agent camp invitees:

“… I’ve known him since he was a kid, we have a real good feel for him and think he’s a top-four NHL defenseman. Now, just because we think it doesn’t mean anything, he’s got to relax and let his skill come to the forefront and show us what he brings (though the preseason).”

Sopel’s entry into the top four would upset the current projections of the group, which is generally considered to be Nick Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, and Andreas Lilja. The first two are locks for the top pairing (or at least, the top four, in Rafalski’s case) and the team isn’t paying Kronwall $3 million to play in the third pairing, or, for that matter, to sit on the bench. And speaking of the third pairing, Chris Chelios and Brett Lebda play too well together to break that up. So, that leaves Andreas Lilja. If Sopel cracks the lineup, it seems to me that Lilja would be the odd man out.

That wouldn’t be a new situation for old Andreas, whose had an up-and-down career in Detroit, ranging from Nick Lidstrom’s defensive partner in 05-06, to seventh defenseman and odd-man out to Niklas Kronwall and Brett Lebda last year. He had a surprisingly good playoffs and still brings the most physical presence of any Red Wings defenseman (relatively speaking), but even in the Mike Babcock era, offensive defensemen win out in Detroit.

Obviously, Sopel is no lock for a contract with the Wings, but the possibility is intriguing.

I realize I’m a little late to chime in on this topic. Others have said their piece already and made some great points. See Abel to Yzerman, Gorilla Crouch, and yzerman is god.

Kronwall gone two months, Lidstrom to miss Sunday’s game

Published
by
Sarah Baker
on April 1, 2007
in 2006-2007, Andreas Lilja, Brett Lebda, Derek Meech, Injuries, Nick Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Roster Moves
. 4 Comments

Just thought I’d do a little update since I know that Matt is without internet access for the time being…

Yesterday’s game was a such a disappointment. The Wings showed great promise in the first two periods, only to let it all slip away in the last half of the third. It was tragic really. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s too painful. These close ones just kill me, especially when we seem to have the game all locked up early on.

Not only did we lose the game, but we also lost Niklas Kronwall in the first thirty seconds to a broken pelvic bone (Dave from gorilla crouch has a nice diagram if you want specifics…). He was against the boards behind the net fighting for the puck, and Joel Lundqvist barreled in and gave him one heck of a hip check into the boards. Unfortunately I have to say it was clean - I really wish I could blame him (or anyone for that matter…), it’d give me somewhere to direct the venting of my frustrations.

Mickey Redmond lamented the play for quite some time, saying that generally one of your teammates (like the goaltender…) should warn you when someone is flying toward you like that. Though he did admit the possibility that Kronner had been warned, but may not have had the time necessary to react. Honestly it just seemed like a freak play, another unfortunate break for Kronwall. I love the way he plays, but he has yet to make it through a season with the Wings without a major injury. I just wish he could stay healthy! Oh I forgot to mention… he’s out for 6-8 weeks, or about two months. That means that the only way he’s coming back this season is for the Stanley Cup Finals - maybe. As IwoCPO points out, that means we’ll likely be seeing all too much of everyone’s favorite whipping boy, Andreas Lilja. While I do feel that Lils has seemed better of late, he’s still the weakest link on our defense and can be a liability.

To top it all off, our defensive rock, Nicklas Lidstrom, is out with a lower back strain. Lidstrom doesn’t get injured! What is up with that? They’re saying it’s nothing serious - just precautionary, but given the wings’ tendency to downplay injury severity, I can’t help but be a just a little bit concerned. I really, really, really hope they’re right, because there’s no way we’re going anywhere in the playoffs without Nick Lidstrom.

Anyway, the gaps in our depleted defense will be filled by the returning Brett Lebda and call-up Kyle Quincey. Not sure why Quincey got the call over Derek Meech (who has outplayed him all season in GR - when Quincey has been healthy, that is). I like Quincey, but he seems to have a tendency to take bad penalties. Hopefully he’ll be on his best behavior against the Blue Jackets on Sunday.

The Kronwall hit on Lupul

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 24, 2007
in Niklas Kronwall, Oilers, Opinion and Video
. 4 Comments

Update (25. Feb, 1:53 PM): Joffrey Lupul has been quoted in the Edmonton Sun as saying he thought the Kronwall hit was borderline dirty, but said he wasn’t going to complain. By contrast, his head coach, Craig McTavish told the paper,

“People have long memories at this level and it’s not something we’ll quickly forget. He’s got a history of that. When you blindside guys like that viciously, that says something and we’ll remember it.”

“He’s got a history of that”? When, pray tell, has Kronwall given a guy a concussion with a shoulder-to-head hit before, McTavish? It was not vicious, it was just unfortunate timing and placement. If you want a suspension because it was a headshot, say that, but don’t spew that kind of whining crap. - Matt

Update (9:47 PM): I’m obviously not the only one who wants the League to rethink their policy on hits to the head, but I think this is the first time a person in authority has spoken out against it.

The recent Senators/Sabres conflagration was kick started by a headshot on Chris Drury by Ottawa’s Chris Neil. Drury is out with a serious concussion now and Buffalo’s owner has written a letter to the NHL asking for change.

Neil’s hit was far more malicious than Kronwall’s hit, so the fact that he went unpunished is far more telling than the fact that Nik didn’t for his check, which didn’t demonstrate an intent to injure. - Matt

Someone has YouTubed a video of Niklas Kronwall’s hit on Joffrey Lupul. Dirty or not dirty? See for yourself.

Call me biased all you want, but I say more ill-advised than dirty. It was all shoulder and, though he did power through it with his legs, it wasn’t malicious and it would have just been a big open ice hit had Lupul not just dished off the puck and looked away.

Still, at the risk of being called a Red Wings heretic (but I’d rather be wrongly accused of being a heretic than rightly accused of being a hypocrite), I will say that it was not a safe hit or a smart hit, and almost certainly one deserving of a suspension as a head-shot. However, the League doesn’t punish hits to the head because of an irrational and ridiculous fear that it would make the game less physical. Like I wrote in November, I think it’s criminal of the League not to police hits like that more, regardless of whether or not a Red Wing is delivering them, and regardless of intent. Hits to the head should not go unpunished, period.

2/10 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 10, 2007
in Danny Markov, Dominik Hasek, Flyers, Henrik Zetterberg, Jiri Hudler, Joey MacDonald, Nick Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Pavel Datsyuk, Peter Forsberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Trade Rumors and Valtteri Filppula
. 2 Comments

Update (4:00 PM): Taking a page from James Mirtle’s book, I’ve added a section the sidebar (”Other reading”) that will display links to hockey-related items of interest that don’t get blogged here (or that I haven’t yet had time to mention). It’s through Google Reader and is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but it wasn’t very easy to implement on WordPress blogs until recently. - Matt

… Chuck Gormley continued his “Forsberg watch” for the Courier Post yesterday with another installment. Nothing very new, though Gormley expands on his idea that Forsberg would like to come to Detroit, saying that it’s because

“two of the Red Wings’ top four scorers, defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and left wing Tomas Holmstrom, are from Sweden.”

I see your point, Mr. Gormley, but three of their top four scorers are from Sweden. Not sure how you missed Henrik Zetterberg.

Anyway, he goes on to say that the Wings may be interested in dealing either Andreas Lilja or Niklas Kronwall as part of the package. Personally, I think that if the Flyers are dumb enough to take a Lilja package (perhaps with Williams), it wouldn’t be such a bad deal. But if they demand someone like Kronwall or Hudler, I’d hope they’d say “no.” There is little use in throwing away two key pieces of the future for a player who may only be with the team until July 1st.

The story that was being reported earlier in this saga was that the Wings would demand that Forsberg sign a contract with them as part of any deal, and that may still be one of their stipulations. However, it doesn’t look like Forsberg would be willing to do so, as there is talk that he’d look to return to Philadelphia after a playoff run with another team. The Wings may decide Forsberg is worth the short-term benefit and hope that they could convince him to stay afterwards, but I think it would be foolish to give away one or more of their future stars in exchange for a player that could retire (if he does sign a long term contract) or bolt (if he doesn’t) at any moment.

Peter Forsberg certainly has the ability, if healthy, to make a huge impact on the team, as Nick Lidstrom told Ted Kulfan yesterday, but, given the likely asking price, it doesn’t seem to me that the Wings have the organizational depth to pursue a deal without really hurting their future.* Now, if Forsberg works out some kind of Hasek-like deal with Philly (”Don’t take too much from them, I want to be able to win.”) or the Flyers get conned into taking Lilja and Williams, it’d be worth it, if he were healthy. That’s a pretty big “if,” in my mind, even though he seems to have found a solution. My question is: will it last or will it be like the other “solutions”?

… George Sipple reports that Joey MacDonald will get another start in the coming back-to-back series. It will almost certainly be Monday night in Philadelphia as Dominik Hasek ough to be in net tomorrow against Calgary. Joey is still looking for his first NHL win and hopefully his teammates will show up to play this time around. He’s played extremely well in almost all his games this season, but hasn’t gotten the support he deserves from the skaters.

… Sipple also says that the Wings are concerned about their slow starts in the last nine games. I am too, though I have been impressed by their comeback ability and determination not to give up. Still, they’ll have a much harder time pulling off such comebacks in the playoffs, so hopefully they’ll find motivation to play hard from the first drop of the puck to the buzzer at the end.

… There is some variety to the reports on the nature of Danny Markov’s injury: The Freep calls it a “contusion in his middle back” and claims Piet Van Zant’s authority; the News calls it a “sore shoulder, ribs”; and TSN just calls it a shoulder injury. All three say he’s listed as day-to-day.

*There are those fans who dislike Niklas Kronwall, Jiri Hudler and even Valtteri Filppula for mistakes they make and for their lack of production. This is because we were spoiled by Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg making an immediate impact. We have forgotten that most young players need years to develop and that they aren’t likely to be stars right off the bat. Kronwall, Hudler, and Filppula are very likely to be big names in the League in years to come, but they aren’t going to be that immediately, though I personally think they’re pretty good even now. So, that’s why I say the Wings would be mortgaging their future if they trade any of them away, even though they might not seem so valuble now.

1/25 Injury Update

Published
by
Matt Saler
on January 25, 2007
in Henrik Zetterberg, Injuries, Josh Langfeld, Kris Draper, Mathieu Schneider, Niklas Kronwall and Robert Lang
. 1 Comment

Via Ansar Khan:

… Mikael Samuelsson’s right foot was broken Saturday night in Denver when he blocked a shot during the third period (I assume, based on the shift chart). It’s the first I’ve heard of it and apparently, the Wings themselves didn’t know until he had an X-ray taken today. The Wings will be without Mikael’s services for at least two weeks, Khan says, but have called up Josh Langfeld to fill in for now. It can’t be a very serious break if it took them this long to find out there was one and if the recovery time is so short.

… It looks like the inflammation and pain in Henrik Zetterberg’s wrist has subsided enough for him to forego another cortisone shot. The rest has done him a lot of good, apparently, and that’s great news for the Wings.

… Mathieu Schneider practiced today but will miss at least two more games. That puts his return at Tuesday night in Long Island, at the earliest. The Wings could use him back, but it won’t do them any good to rush it so I’m glad they’re taking their time.

… Neither Robert Lang nor Kris Draper practiced today due to the flu and Khan suggests that the Wings may call someone else up to cover for them in the game tomorrow night. I’ll keep an eye on the AHL transaction page in case they do.

… Lastly, as reported earlier this week, Niklas Kronwall will play tomorrow night, but will have a cage protecting his face, and could wear it as long as 2 months. He has a whopping 25 stiches in the cut across his nose from Marek Svatos’ skate and may want to consider wearing the visor a little lower once he drops the cage.

12/13 Injury Update

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 13, 2006
in Injuries, Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall and Pavel Datsyuk
. 0 Comments

… Ansar Khan reports that Pavel Datsyuk did not practice today due to stiffness. Apparently, it’s nothing big, though it’s not certain whether or not he’ll play tomorrow night in Chicago. Babcock wouldn’t tell what exactly the issue was, so it could be anything.

Hopefully Pavel won’t have to sit tomorrow, as he seems to be hitting his stride and doesn’t need to have that disrupted.

… Khan also reports that Johan Franzen will definitely be back tomorrow night. He says nothing about Niklas Kronwall, however. Nik’s injury problems are beginning to be a bit frustrating, I have to say.

Dallas Drake suspended

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 8, 2006
in Brett Lebda, Dallas Drake, Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall and Suspensions
. 2 Comments

Update (09. Dec, 12:38 AM): Paul Kukla has a screencap of the hit that will give you a good idea of what happened, if you didn’t see it. I still haven’t seen a replay online yet but I’ll post the link if I find one. - Matt

Looks like Babcock got his way: the NHL reviewed the hit on Brett Lebda last night and has suspended the former Red Wing for two games. He’ll forfeit $26,829.26 in salary.

Good to see justice finally being meted out, though it would have been even better had they done it on the other headshots we’ve seen this season. It was the only one of the three not to result in an injury, though. I guess since the boards were involved, it’s a bigger deal than an open ice hit.

Maybe Babcock needs to speak up more often.

Also, both Helene St. James and Ansar Khan report on the two injured Swedes. Apparently, Johan Franzen is another week away from returning, while Kronwall won’t be back until Tuesday at the earliest. Great.