LOGIN | REGISTER | RSS FEEDS

The Malik Report

Red Wings’ Niklas Kronwall ponders ‘Life after Lidstrom’ in CBC Q and A

by George Malik on 01/21/13 at 04:46 PM ET
Comments (0)

Via RedWingsFeed, I'm still catching up after very literally catching hypothermia during the 24-hour period when we were without power here in South Lyon, so I will be spending the afternoon/evening catching up...But this Q and A Niklas Kronwall conducted with the CBC's Doug Harrison, in which he discusses Nicklas Lidstrom's retirement and "Life after Lidstrom," is more than worth its own entry:

“Nick deserves all the credit he gets from around the league,” said the 32-year-old year Kronwall, who received guidance on and off the ice from Lidstrom when he broke into the NHL in the 2002-03 season. “He was our best player for 82 regular-season games and then every game in the playoffs. To do that year in and year out, what do you say?”

Kronwall shared some thoughts on what life is like and will be like in Detroit without Lidstrom as the team embarks on a lockout-shortened season.

CBCSports.ca: Your last game with Nicklas Lidstrom was Game 5 of the Western Conference quarter-finals against Nashville on April 20. How was it, sharing the ice with him that night?

Niklas Kronwall: At the time I didn’t really think too much about it. Even after the game we didn’t really think too much about it. There’s been talk the last couple of years about him retiring and everyone knew that could be the case but I don’t think anybody, especially here in Detroit and all Red Wings fans, wanted to think about that possibility. We kept our heads in the sand and hoped it would never happen.

CBCSports.ca: Was there a message from Lidstrom to you and the rest of the Red Wings defence upon his retirement?

NK: He had a few of us [players] out for dinner before he left for [his native] Sweden last summer. His message all along is that you’ll be fine. Obviously, it’s going to be a completely different look on our defence. We won’t have somebody like [Lidstrom] but the rest of us are going to have to take another step in the right direction in our development and hopefully that will make our team better.
Detroit Red Wings' Niklas Kronwall (55), of Sweden, plays defense during a St. Louis Blues power play with teammate Nicklas Lidstrom, back, of Sweden, against Blues' Dallas Drake, left, during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2006, in Detroit.

CBCSports.ca: When a guy like Nick Lidstrom is your teammate, what do you enjoy most about him?

NK: When it comes to hockey, just watching him play. He made the game look so simple, more simple than anyone I have ever watched.

Continued at some length, and as you'd imagine, it's worth your time.

Filed in: | The Malik Report | Permalink
 

Comments

Be the first to comment.

Add a Comment

Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.

Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.

Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.

Smileys

<b>

<i>

<u>

quote

code

@

<a>

Close Tags

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Most Recent Blog Posts

About The Malik Report

The Malik Report is a destination for all things Red Wings-related. I offer biased, perhaps unprofessional-at-times and verbose coverage of my favorite team, their prospects and developmental affiliates. I've joined the Kukla's Korner family with five years of blogging under my belt, and I hope you'll find almost everything you need to follow your Red Wings at a place where all opinions are created equal and we're all friends, talking about hockey and the team we love to follow.