Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff wrote an article discussing Michael Rasmussen’s desire to make the Red Wings’ lineup by taking his 6’6″ frame to the front of the opposition net:
“I’m a big guy, so I have to play well down low and in front of the net and stuff like that,” Rasmussen said. “It takes a lot of practice, a lot of kind of feeling around in there over my hockey career, I guess.”
Ben Simon, coach of Detroit’s AHL farm club in Grand Rapids, believes net-front work comes naturally to Rasmussen due to his physique.
“He’s got such a big frame, such a big reach,” Simon said. “That’s going to be one of his attributes he’s going to have to use to his advantage, protecting the puck and not allowing guys to get inside of him. Once he gets the puck, it’s tough to get inside that wingspan.”
Those whose job it is to try to find the puck through Rasmussen’s imposing frame see a guy who is ready to do that task on hockey’s biggest stage.
“You watch him in practice tipping pucks and he’s got some of the best hand-eye,” Detroit goalie prospect Kaden Fulcher said. “Definitely around the net he’s got some unbelievable hands for a big guy, so I think he’s going to be a really big part of the Wings’ future moving forward.”
