Kronwall's Toughest Challenge May Be His Lightest One Yet
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
The Red Wings' plan to limit Niklas Kronwall's minutes was employed once again on Saturday night, when he was held out of his team's 2-1 overtime loss to the Canadiens.
Coach Jeff Blashill knows the decision didn't sit well with Detroit's hard-nosed leader on the blue line.
"He didn't like hearing from me that he wasn't playing the other night because he wants to play. But my job is to make sure that I'm putting our guys in the best position possible, and I just felt for long term and short term, for that matter, that it was the right decision," Blashill said.
The Red Wings are trying to preserve Kronwall and his permanently-aching left knee by keeping him out of back-to-back games and limiting his practice time. The 35-year-old underwent knee surgery in the offseason and missed the first 11 games of the season.
Saturday's game marked his second time being scratched since returning to the lineup in early November.
"He's a warrior, he wants to play," Blashill said. "He understands and he gets the big picture, but in the moment he wants to play and be out there as much as possible. So I think we'll continue to monitor the effect of not practicing much. He had a chance to practice yesterday, played today, so I think that's a positive."
Kronwall will be back in the lineup for Tuesday night's game versus the Dallas Stars. For a guy who takes pride in consistently suiting up, adjusting to his lighter regimen has been a challenge.
"It's more mentally than anything," Kronwall said. "It always used to be you did anything to play, and now there's, you know..."
He sighed.
"I get it. I know it's probably the right thing to do but you've had the same mindset for your whole career pretty much and now it's a little bit different," Kronwall explained. "So that's an area that I'm still working with myself a little bit."
Kronwall understands the importance of preserving his health. He's signed through the 2018-19 season and the Wings will need him then as much as they need him now.
"I know everybody's just kind of looking out for my own good and also for my own health moving forward - not just now, but also down the stretch this year and looking ahead after that," he said. "So it's different, that's for sure."
Based on early returns, it seems to be working. Kronwall said on Tuesday that his knee feels "pretty good" and that the lighter workload aids his recovery between games.
"It's been a real good combination so far and hopefully it stays that way and we'll move along. We'll have a bit of a plan and try to follow it," he said.
Then again, there's an inevitable downside.
"I think as far as the game goes, for myself, I always believe that the more you work on your game the better or the easier it'll be to take it to the next step," Kronwall said. "But in saying that, again, you've got to find different ways to get better than you have in the past and that's something I'm working on daily here."
It's just the latest challenge in his 13-year career, one that's been defined by toughness and dependability. The load he's carrying now is as light as ever, which, for Kronwall, feels like quite the burden.
