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Kronwall adapting to lesser role

November 30, 2016, 9:31 PM ET [0 Comments]
Bob Duff
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Being a part-time hockey player isn’t what Niklas Kronwall enjoys but it’s better than not being a hockey player at all.

The chronic knee ailment that kept defenseman Kronwall out of the Detroit Red Wings lineup for the first 11 games of the NHL season isn’t going to go away, and that means at times this season the Wings intend to go slowly with Kronwall.

He’ll sit many of the second games of back-to-back games and often is excused from practice.

“It’s about what I hoped for,” Kronwall, 35, said of the level of pain he’s dealing with on a daily basis.

Detroit coach Jeff Blashill believes that as much as he knows it pains a warrior like Kronwall to sit out, Kronwall understands that it’s for the greater good.

“He didn’t like hearing from me that I wasn’t going to play him the other night (Saturday against Montreal), because he wants to play but my job is to make sure I’m putting our guys in the best position possible,” Blashill said. “I just felt for long term, and for short term for that matter that was the right decision.

“He understands. He gets the big picture but in the moment he wants to play and be out there as much as possible.”

With Brendan Smith (knee injury) and Alexey Marchenko (shoulder injury) out, Detroit doesn’t have an extra defenseman on the NHL roster, and Blashill indicated if need be, he’d call up a defenseman from AHL Grand Rapids for practice in order to give Kronwall a day off.

“I think we’ll continue to monitor the effect of not practicing much,” Blashill said. “He had a chance to practice (Monday) and play (Tuesday), so I think that’s a positive and we’ll just have to continue to monitor it.”

Kronwall seems to be taking a patient approach to his situation, while in the back of his mind maintaining the positive belief that things will get better as the season progresses.

“I think everything is going to be, again, kind of based on how things move along here,” Kronwall said. “Obviously I’d like to play every game. It is what it is now. I think the biggest thing will be not to jeopardize anything.

“If you were to play in the back-to-back, potentially you could end up losing some time on the back end. So obviously you’d rather sit one out than several games out. But again, things have been moving along pretty good so far. I just hope it goes in the right direction in the future.”

Sick Bay Update
A couple of Detroit’s walking wounded are getting closer to a return to action but not close enough to cause a commotion.

Marchenko (right shoulder joint) returned to practice Wednesday. He can shoot a puck but is still not cleared for contact. Forward Andreas Athanasiou (left knee sprain) has been skating on his own for nearly a week.

“I’m getting better every day,” Athanasiou said. “I’m taking it day by day now, and I’m starting to feel really good.”

There’s no timetable on when Athanasiou might rejoin practice but Marchenko was clearly delighted to be back with his teammates on Wednesday.

“I need to get back the strength of the shoulder,” Marchenko said. “It’s getting better. It’s not there, but it’s getting better.

“Once I get back the strength, then we’ll see how I can feel the pressure of a hit and of contact.”

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