When Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren took a puck to his face and went to the dressing room for repairs during an early season game, I sent that piece of information out via social media. It was almost comical the number of New York Rangers fans who chimed in.
Lindgren spent the first half-dozen years of his NHL career with the Blueshirts before being traded to the Avalanche at the deadline in March, and then signing with Seattle as a free agent this past summer.
“The sun rises, the sun sets, Lindgren gets hit in the face,” and similar refrains flooded in from New York. They weren’t derogatory, they were actually complimentary; that this old school D-man had taken another one for his team.
Lindgren takes a licking and keeps on ticking, to steal a refrain from an ancient wristwatch commercial.
While yes, he’s durable and tough, it’s crazy how many times he’s been hit in the face and head. I brought it up to him a few days later and he smiled. He appreciated the reaction of the Rangers fans, and simply said he tries to tough out everything that comes his way. It’s part of the game.
At age 27 and under contract with the Kraken for another three seasons after this one at $4.5-million per, he’s the perfect guy to have around as Seattle builds out its team. He’s also a player you’d want around as a second pair defender on a playoff team or third-pair lefty on a Stanley Cup contender. It would be nice if the Seattle club could get at least to that first tier while Lindgren is still in his battling prime.
“Lindgren is the most physical defenseman for the Seattle Kraken,” Calgary Flames TV commentator and former NHL goalie Kelly Hrudey pointed out during a recent game. “He’s a tough guy to play against.”
“That’s the game I try to play, it’s physical, hard to play against, but you’ve gotta find that line for sure,” Lindgren said postgame after his 3rd period cross checking penalty led to the power play game winner for the Utah Mammoth on December 12th.
“There’s a fine line there,” he said. “I was upset, I thought he (John Marino) went down easy, but you can’t do that at that time of the game.”
Lindgren’s stand out stat is his blocked shots: 2nd on the D-corps behind Adam Larsson in terms of sacrificing his body. He’s a regular on the club’s penalty kill, part of the Seattle units that have struggled.
One could point to Lindgren’s poor analytics as an argument against him. He’s not an offensive contributor, having scored his first goal of the season on Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks, to go with the four assists he’s accumulated over 33 games played. His career high for goals in a season is four, for points it’s 19.
Then again, the Minnesota native is a traditional stay-at-home defenseman with an old school mentality. Thus his reaction to taking pucks to the face. He’s not bothered. He toughs it out.
Character and commitment are two of the “C’s” that I often list as keys to winning hockey games. Intangibles that include coaching, camaraderie, and chemistry. Things that can’t be solved with math equations.
The Kraken need all of the help they can get in terms of establishing an identity and being tough to play against.
As those factors continue to develop for Seattle, Lindgren’s one of the perfect guys to have around.
Earlier Kraken:
Earlier Canucks:
— Canucks Refuse To Lose Without Hughes; Win Shoot-Out 5-4