Niklas Kronwall

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SwedenSweden  Niklas Kronwall Ice hockey player
Niklas Kronwall
Date of birth January 12, 1981
place of birth Stockholm , Sweden
size 183 cm
Weight 86 kg
position defender
number # 55
Shot hand Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 2000 , 1st lap, 29th position
Detroit Red Wings
Career stations
1996-1998 Djurgårdens IF
1998-1999 Huddinge IK
1999-2003 Djurgårdens IF
2003-2005 Grand Rapids Griffins
2003-2019 Detroit Red Wings

Niklas Kronwall (born January 12, 1981 in Stockholm ) is a former Swedish ice hockey player . The defender , who started his career in his home country at Djurgårdens IF , was under contract with the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League between 2003 and 2019 . With the team, for which he played a total of over 1000 games, he won the Stanley Cup in the 2008 playoffs . Since he won the gold medal at the Winter Olympics and the World Championship with the Swedish national team in 2006 , he is a member of the Triple Gold Club .

Career

Niklas Kronwall in the Detroit Red Wings jersey

Niklas Kronwall began his career in 1996/97 with the juniors of Djurgårdens IF , for which he was active until 1998. He then moved to Huddinge IK , for which he completed two games in the junior league and then was used for the professionals in the HockeyAllsvenskan .

After one year he went back to Djurgårdens in 1999 and played from then on for their professional team in the Elitserien , with whom he won the Swedish championship in the 1999/2000 season . After the end of the season he was selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft in the first round at position 29. The defender stayed in Sweden for the time being and successfully defended the title with Djurgårdens.

After two more years in Sweden, he moved to North America in 2003 and completed the 2003/04 season partly with the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League and partly with their farm team , the Grand Rapids Griffins in the American Hockey League . While many European players moved back to their home countries due to the cancellation of the 2004/05 NHL season because of the lockout to contest the season there, Kronwall stayed in North America and completed the season with the Grand Rapids Griffins. After the season he was named the best defender of the AHL and elected to the AHL First All-Star Team .

In a preparation game for the 2005/06 season in September, he suffered a serious knee injury. Kronwall was nominated for the squad of the Swedish team for the Olympic Winter Games in Turin , but had to cancel because he was only ready for action shortly before. When Mattias Öhlund later injured himself in the game against Switzerland , Kronwall took over the vacated place in the squad and in the end won the Olympic victory with the Swedish team.

Kronwall had only completed 27 of the 82 league games due to injury at the end of the regular season. The Red Wings were eliminated in the first round and Kronwall was able to participate in the 2006 World Cup, which Sweden finished as world champions. He was named Best Defender and Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.

In November 2006, his end-of-season contract was extended by the Red Wings for five years to 2012, bringing him a total of $ 15 million. In the 2006/07 season , Kronwall had to fight again with minor injuries and came to 22 points in 68 games. Four games before the end of the regular season, he suffered a worse injury and missed the entire playoffs alongside the rest of the regular season.

The 2007/08 season turned out to be the best of his career for Kronwall to date, but he was again hampered by injuries to his shoulder and groin. He got his best result of seven goals and 28 assists in 65 games. In the playoffs, he and Brad Stuart formed the second line of defense, which stood out for its tough game and, especially in the final series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, helped to keep the young stars Sidney Crosby and Yevgeny Malkin in check. The Red Wings finally won the Stanley Cup and Kronwall was the best preparer and the best point defender of his team in the playoffs with 15 assists.

Kronwall was also part of the Red Wings defense over the following years, including playoffs in over 1,000 games for the team. In August 2019, he announced that he would end his active career and move to Detroit's management in an advisory role with immediate effect.

Achievements and Awards

International

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
1996/97 Djurgårdens IF J20 SuperElit 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
1997/98 Djurgårdens IF J20 SuperElit 27 4th 3 7th 71 2 0 0 0 2
1998/99 Huddinge IK J20 SuperElit 2 0 0 0 6th - - - - -
1998/99 Huddinge IK Division 1 25th 1 1 2 24 - - - - -
1999/00 Djurgårdens IF Elitserien 37 1 4th 5 16 8th 0 0 0 8th
2000/01 Djurgårdens IF Elitserien 31 1 9 10 32 15th 0 1 1 8th
2001/02 Djurgårdens IF Elitserien 48 5 7th 12 34 5 0 0 0 0
2002/03 Djurgårdens IF Elitserien 50 5 13 18th 46 12 3 2 5 18th
2003/04 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 25th 2 11 13 20th - - - - -
2003/04 Detroit Red Wings NHL 20th 1 4th 5 16 - - - - -
2004/05 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 76 13 40 53 53 - - - - -
2005/06 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
2005/06 Detroit Red Wings NHL 27 1 8th 9 28 6th 0 3 3 2
2006/07 Detroit Red Wings NHL 68 1 21st 22nd 54 - - - - -
2007/08 Detroit Red Wings NHL 65 7th 28 35 44 22nd 0 15th 15th 18th
2008/09 Detroit Red Wings NHL 80 6th 45 51 50 23 2 7th 9 33
2009/10 Detroit Red Wings NHL 48 7th 15th 22nd 32 12 0 5 5 12
2010/11 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 11 26th 37 36 11 2 4th 6th 4th
2011/12 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 15th 21st 36 38 5 0 2 2 4th
2012/13 Detroit Red Wings NHL 48 5 24 29 44 14th 0 2 2 4th
2013/14 Detroit Red Wings NHL 79 8th 41 49 44 5 1 1 2 0
2014/15 Detroit Red Wings NHL 80 9 35 44 40 6th 0 2 2 4th
2015/16 Detroit Red Wings NHL 64 3 23 26th 30th 5 0 1 1 8th
2016/17 Detroit Red Wings NHL 57 2 11 13 32 - - - - -
2017/18 Detroit Red Wings NHL 79 4th 23 27 36 - - - - -
2018/19 Detroit Red Wings NHL 79 3 24 27 40 - - - - -
SuperElit overall 30th 4th 3 7th 79 2 0 0 0 2
Elitserien total 166 12 33 45 128 40 3 3 6th 34
AHL total 102 15th 51 66 73 0 0 0 0 0
NHL overall 953 83 349 432 564 109 5 42 47 89

International

Represented Sweden at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
1998 Sweden U18 European Championship 1st place, gold 6th 1 2 3 6th
1999 Sweden U18 World Cup 2nd place, silver 7th 0 4th 4th 8th
2000 Sweden U20 World Cup 5th place 7th 5 1 6th 10
2001 Sweden U20 World Cup 4th Place 5 0 1 1 2
2003 Sweden WM 2nd place, silver 5 0 0 0 4th
2005 Sweden WM 4th Place 9 3 3 6th 10
2006 Sweden Olympia 1st place, gold 2 1 1 2 8th
2006 Sweden WM 1st place, gold 8th 2 8th 10 10
2010 Sweden Olympia 5th place 4th 0 0 0 2
2012 Sweden WM 6th place 8th 1 0 1 4th
2014 Sweden Olympia 2nd place, silver 6th 0 2 2 4th
Juniors overall 25th 6th 8th 14th 26th
Men overall 42 7th 14th 21st 42

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

family

His younger brother Staffan Kronwall is also an ice hockey player and also briefly played in the NHL.

Web links

Commons : Niklas Kronwall  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Kronwall, Niklas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kronvall, Niklas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH January 12, 1981
PLACE OF BIRTH Stockholm , Sweden