Red Wings prospect and University of Denver defenseman Shai Buium is all of 19 years old, and, last week, the 6’3,” 209-pound defenseman looked like something between a gazelle and a giraffe on the ice. Likely a good 20 pounds short of his playing weight (if not a couple inches short), the Denver sophomore looks utterly elegant when he’s in motion, but when he’s stopped, he’s gangly and awkward.
Buium’s play, however, is quite smooth and improving, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a profile of Buium this afternoon, noting that Buium’s hockey education benefited from Denver’s journey to the NCAA Division 1 hockey championship this past spring:
Heading into his sophomore season, Buium is hoping to pass some of that experience and knowledge along.
“I want to be a role model for the freshmen,” he said. “We have two incoming defensemen and I want to show them the way and hopefully pick up a bigger role and try to do the same thing (win a title). It’s hard to win, (but) we’ll try to do that again.”
What made the recent Red Wings development camp special for Buium was the ability to work with Niklas Kronwall, the former Wings star who coached the defensemen in camp.
“Working with Niklas Kronwall is pretty awesome,” Buium said. “He’s obviously an NHL legend. He teaches you a lot of things. I’m just trying to work them into my game, like learning how to walk the blue line, playing defense. I was pretty intimidated at first, but he’s a really good guy and pretty easy to talk to. He communicates well with us. It’s pretty surreal because he’s an NHL legend.”
Overall, the development camp was a good way to get comfortable with the Wings’ program, along with getting ready for the upcoming hockey season.
“It’s really an educational camp,” said Buium, who is familiar with the Detroit area given his younger brother is in the Plymouth Township-based United States National Team Development Program (brother and mother live in Novi). “Met a lot of different guys I bonded with, so it’s real good.”
Continued; Buium gets lost in the shuffle with the Red Wings’ numerous Swedish stars-in-the-making, but he’s a real gem of a prospect himself.
