Edmonton Oilers

Kris Russell and Chris Tanev: Blue Line Warriors of the NHL

Playing defence breaks bodies and ends careers. Kris Russell and Chris Tanev lived the grind and paid a price every game. They were warriors.

by
Old Prof
December 30, 2025

Playing defence in the NHL isn’t glamorous. You hit. You block shots. You skate hard backwards all night long, hoping you don’t make a huge mistake while a highly skilled scorer is bearing down on your goalie. Can you keep things from falling apart while you’re throwing yourself in front of a speeding rubber object going nearly 100 miles per hour?

That’s stress. And it wears on you—physically and mentally.

And guys like Kris Russell and Chris Tanev? That grind basically was their careers from start to finish. As Sportsnet’s Mark Spector rightfully points out, these two have a lot in common.

No weekly highlight-reel goals, no big flash, but ask any coach: when the stakes are high, these are two players you want on the ice for your team. Both of these warriors collected more penalty minutes than points. And, what does that tell you?

Kris Russell: The Relentless Lefty

Kris Russell wasn’t flashy, and he never tried to be. Born in Caroline, Alberta, in ’87, he made his living blocking shots, thinking the game, and staying composed when everyone else looked rushed. He moved around the league—Columbus, St. Louis, Dallas, Calgary, Edmonton—but coaches always knew what they were getting.

Nine hundred-plus games. Two hundred fifty-four points. A lot of bruises. The stats are fine, but they don’t capture why teams kept calling his name. It was the little things—the blocked shots you barely notice, the wise decisions under chaos—that kept his teams in games.

Chris Tanev injury Leafs — Chris Tanev was often injured in his time with the Maple Leafs.

Chris Tanev: The Quiet Anchor

Born in Toronto in ’89, Tanev spent most of his prime quietly holding Vancouver together on the back end. Later came stops in Calgary, Dallas, and Toronto. He had more size than Russell, but the job didn’t change. Block the shot. Take the hit. Do it again next shift. The numbers—878 games, 210 points—are fine, but they don’t explain much.

Tanev was the kind of defenceman you trust. Things settled down when he was on the ice. You didn’t always notice him—but you definitely noticed when he wasn’t there.

Two Different Paths, Same Warrior Spirit

Russell was smaller and scrappier. Tanev was bigger and more physical. But both are the same in one key way. They make the rugged look easy. Each was smart, dependable, fearless in front of the net, and never worried about glory. Their impact never showed up in point totals, but in blocked shots, read plays, and keeping chaos from swallowing their teams.

The Toll of the Grind and the Warrior Legacy

This is where the grind really shows. Taking hits, blocking pucks, skating every shift—it wears you down. By the end, neither could go five games straight without hitting the injured list.

What you remember about each of these warriors isn’t the goals, the assists, or the fancy moves. It’s how they steadied the team when everything else was messy. It’s the respect from teammates and the quiet fear in opponents. Russell and Tanev weren’t just defenders—they were truly warriors.

And that’s the kind of legacy that sticks, long after the final horn.