K.McC#24 wrote on Sun, 28 November 2021 22:37

smyth260 wrote on Sun, 28 November 2021 20:10 CrudeRemarks wrote on Sun, 28 November 2021 16:41 Skookum Jim wrote on Sun, 28 November 2021 15:01 GabbyDugan wrote on Sun, 28 November 2021 05:51 Congrats to K. Russell for earning an NHL record for shot blocking. Might be a record that is obscure and has only been tracked for a few seasons, but takes a lot of guts and wear and tear to earn. I'll admit I was pretty negative about Russell being on the roster drawing so much of a cap hit for a seventh or eighth defenseman, but when the injury bug hit the Oilers LD pretty much overnight, he was ready to step right in. Glad he is part of the team. Yeah shot blocking is one stat that is not subjective, its a shot the goaltender doesn't have to make, and a potential goal. He also managed to totally evolve his game over his career, he was an offensive dynamo in the WHL, and had to change to a shutdown tradesman. Tip of the Hat. Does shot blocking ever have a negative side effect? Like deflecting pucks past your own goaltender at key moments in important games? It’s not a stat that I’d want to be a leader in. If you are in a position to block excessive amounts of shots, you are spending way too much time in your own zone. Ultimately possession drives wins, and blocking shots means you don’t have possession. That pretty much mirrors my view when considering shot blocks, if you're blocking a ton of shots, you don't have possession and you're giving up shot attempts. This is a function of Russell's play in his own end as well as the other skaters he's played with 5v5 over his career. On the other hand, as we've seen many times over the years, a blocked shot at a critical moment can be a huge defensive play. If the coach and teammates say that blocking shots is an appreciated skill that KR brings with his game, that's probably a legitimate viewpoint from people who actually matter in this, and good enough for me. KR is 7/8 dman on this team, but he's done a decent job being miscast in an oversized role in light of the 3 Dmen higher than him on the depth chart going down. To be clear, though, this won't be sustainable.

This is a correct take. Lots of courage getting in front of big blasts all the time, so kudos for that. I do believe that players get a charge from seeing guys make a big block - although I think less so compared to in the olden days when it was much more rare for someone to do so.

Russell does get a lot of blocks by being mediocre at a couple of other skills though - he's not a great puck-mover so often returns possession to the other team by just going off the glass and out. He doesn't hold the line well, preferring instead to back off and try to position for a block - that leaves the team more vulnerable because attacks get closer to the goal and therefore more dangerous. His willingness to throw himself to the ice gets taken advantage of, because if anyone fakes a shot, he hits the deck and takes himself out of the play - thus the famous starfish snowangel pose we've all come to know and love.

It's nice for him to get this mark and nice for the team to get to celebrate something, but the sooner he's not in the lineup all the time, the better.

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