Trafalgar Sadge Law
Registered User
- Nov 8, 2007
- 11,479
- 6,892
Quietly and without much fanfare, a NHL record nobody paid attention to nor cared much about fell yesterday, just as quietly and without fanfare as Kris Russell has played out his NHL career thus far. And I think it's time to give him his due credit.
Now I'll be the first to say this. Blocked shots is NOT a good stat, especially not at even strength. What puts you in position to block shots is poor ability to break up cycles/pick off passes/win board battles/fail to transition the puck out of your zone. But plenty of NHL defensemen get hemmed in their zone just as hard if not harder than Russell but won't pay the price of 2000 blocked shots in nearly 900 career games. There's something to be said about a player willing to go out there and put your body in front of a >90 mph flying rubber object to make up for transition mistakes, especially as consistently as this guy is willing to do it.
I also noticed yesterday when going through his blocked shots stats that he has also quietly and without fanfare, played over 300 games for the Oilers. This is even longer than he played for Columbus and Calgary, and he's slowly creeping into our top 50 all time games played leaders. He's becoming "an Oilers mainstay" the same way some of our other heart and hustle over talent guys of yore like Jason Smith and Steve Staios were. I've also started watching him in a less biased light now that the albatross contract is gone and his pay adequately reflects his abilities. Despite his warts, this guy has value for us. He's been one of our strongest PKers for years on a great PK unit, which is the one condition where Kris Russell's bread and butter skill is ALWAYS welcome: the getting down on your knees/stomach to stop the incoming booming point shot or one timer bomb from the circle.
He also always fills his role without even the slightest sign of a complaint. He'll take the 10 minutes of total ice time all starting in the defensive zone and mostly on the PK. He'll go out there and play 25 hard minutes against players clearly more talented than him and keep his head above water through sheer force of will and effort because the team has 3LHD injured. He'll line up on his off hand side after years of playing LHD because his GM assembled a roster of 1/2 RHD with 5/6 LHD. He's also the guy who will sit in the press box for 5 games in a row without a peep and then slide right in as if nothing happened and play the same game he's played for years.
So Kris Russell, keep doing what you do. Be that number 7 dman who sits back quiet and unassuming on the bench/pressbox in your very unflattering role, and who goes out there and pays the price when we need you.
Now I'll be the first to say this. Blocked shots is NOT a good stat, especially not at even strength. What puts you in position to block shots is poor ability to break up cycles/pick off passes/win board battles/fail to transition the puck out of your zone. But plenty of NHL defensemen get hemmed in their zone just as hard if not harder than Russell but won't pay the price of 2000 blocked shots in nearly 900 career games. There's something to be said about a player willing to go out there and put your body in front of a >90 mph flying rubber object to make up for transition mistakes, especially as consistently as this guy is willing to do it.
I also noticed yesterday when going through his blocked shots stats that he has also quietly and without fanfare, played over 300 games for the Oilers. This is even longer than he played for Columbus and Calgary, and he's slowly creeping into our top 50 all time games played leaders. He's becoming "an Oilers mainstay" the same way some of our other heart and hustle over talent guys of yore like Jason Smith and Steve Staios were. I've also started watching him in a less biased light now that the albatross contract is gone and his pay adequately reflects his abilities. Despite his warts, this guy has value for us. He's been one of our strongest PKers for years on a great PK unit, which is the one condition where Kris Russell's bread and butter skill is ALWAYS welcome: the getting down on your knees/stomach to stop the incoming booming point shot or one timer bomb from the circle.
He also always fills his role without even the slightest sign of a complaint. He'll take the 10 minutes of total ice time all starting in the defensive zone and mostly on the PK. He'll go out there and play 25 hard minutes against players clearly more talented than him and keep his head above water through sheer force of will and effort because the team has 3LHD injured. He'll line up on his off hand side after years of playing LHD because his GM assembled a roster of 1/2 RHD with 5/6 LHD. He's also the guy who will sit in the press box for 5 games in a row without a peep and then slide right in as if nothing happened and play the same game he's played for years.
So Kris Russell, keep doing what you do. Be that number 7 dman who sits back quiet and unassuming on the bench/pressbox in your very unflattering role, and who goes out there and pays the price when we need you.
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