Playing Style
Mitchell plays in the style of a stay-at-home defenceman. While with the Canucks, he established himself as the their top shutdown defenceman, being matched up against opposing teams' best players and spending a lot of time on the penalty kill. He had usually formed a defensive pairing on the Canucks with the often offensive-minded Kevin Bieksa. Bieksa has credited Mitchell with teaching him to be more aware of game situations before jumping into the rush.
In order to defend effectively, Mitchell opts to use a longer-than-usual hockey stick. Prior to a game against the Calgary Flames on February 17, 2009, opposing head coach Mike Keenan accused Mitchell of playing with an illegal hockey stick. Mitchell responded by asserting he uses the league maximum length at 63 inches.
Mitchell is also known for his leadership qualities, serving as an alternate captain on the Canucks. During his tenure with the Wild, he was named captain once for the months of December 2005 and January 2006 as part of the Wild's rotating captaincy system.
Read more about this topic: Willie Mitchell (ice Hockey)
Famous quotes containing the words playing and/or style:
“Lovely,
this plowman’s son
with the good-looking wife
has gone so thin over you
that the woman,
though jealous,
is playing the go-between herself!”
—Hla Stavhana (c. 50 A.D.)
“I am so tired of taking to others
translating my life for the deaf, the blind,
the “I really want to know what your life is like without giving up any of my privileges
to live it” white women
the “I want to live my white life with Third World women’s style and keep my skin
class privileges” dykes”
—Lorraine Bethel, African American lesbian feminist poet. “What Chou Mean We, White Girl?” Lines 49-54 (1979)