Detroit Red Wings: Niklas Kronwall Hangs Up The Skates

The long-awaited decision finally concludes. Niklas Kronwall has called it a career and is hung up the skates for good. The Detroit Red Wings will welcome Kronwall into the front office now that his playing career has ended.

After Steve Yzerman took over as the GM of the Detroit Red Wings, it was announced that defenseman Niklas Kronwall would have as much time as he wanted to decide his fate. Yzerman was in no rush to get a decision from Kronwall on his retirement or return to the Red Wings as a player, and Kronwall waited until the final days of the offseason. After fifteen years in the National Hockey League (NHL), all with the Red Wings, Kronwall has announced that his days as a player are over.

Along with the announcement of his retirement from the NHL, it’s been said he will join Yzerman in the front office as a Special Advisor to the GM. The Red Wings released a touching tribute of Kronwall out on their social media accounts. The video is about four minutes long, with Kronwall talking through his decision.

We also shared it to our facebook & twitter page. It allowed for Kronwall to thank those who helped him during his career, and of course some highlights. Watching the tribute video will make the fans reminisce of old times when names like Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Nicklas Lidstrom riddled the highlights and scoresheets.

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Throughout fifteen seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, Kronwall played in 953 games totaling, 83 goals and 349 assists for 432 total points. Kronwall was also known to throw around the body, and the phrase “Kronwalled” was coined in that honor. Throughout his career, Kronwall managed to use his body as a tool for part of his game, and that is not good for his body anymore.

Lately, there’s been a lot of anticipation of the Red Wings defensive core this season, and Kronwall has been part of these talks. Many people have been advocating that he hang them up, including myself who wrote that his departure would free up a spot in the Red Wings roster for someone like Dennis Cholowski or someone of that nature. The truth is, Kronwall had a stellar career, for as much as I have said he should hang them up, it’s sad to see him be done.

Kronwall is essentially one of the very last remaining names from the 2008 Stanley Cup Championship. For those keeping track, on the Red Wings roster from that year, only Darren Helm and Valtteri Filppula (signed back this offseason) remain on the Red Wings roster.

Kronwall retiring should be a reminder to Wings fans of the days of the past. Looking back on it, that Red Wings team was incredible. The hope should remain that in the coming years, the Red Wings can get back to that level of competition and success.