YoungGuns1340 1 Report post Posted July 1, 2009 First Anaheim. Now Calgary. You know, I could see Calgary as the new Anaheim to the Wings with their Dmen group. Very, very annoying. Jay isnt anywhere near as dominant offensively as Niedermayer or Pronger, and Phaneuf is worlds below Pronger and Neidermayer in the defensive department. Then theres the whole experience factor. The only comparison between Anaheim and Calgary's defense is the hype and the contracts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BeeRYCE 2 Report post Posted July 1, 2009 Posts in this thread aren't saying anything about how Regher is defensively. Most forwards in the NHL consider Regher and Lidstrom the toughest to play against one on one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xBrave_Heartx 0 Report post Posted July 1, 2009 Lids > Bouw Rafalski < Reghyr Kronwall = Phanuef Stuart = Sarich Lilja > Giordano Lebda = Aucoin I'll take Calgary's actually Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reds4Life 51 Report post Posted July 1, 2009 Lidstrom is much better than any Flames' defenseman. Rafalski is still better than Phaneuf. Kronwall - Stuart are better than Regehr - Sarich Lilja - Ericsson are better than Aucoin and Giordano Wings easily. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UKWING 8 Report post Posted July 1, 2009 Posts in this thread aren't saying anything about how Regher is defensively. Most forwards in the NHL consider Regher and Lidstrom the toughest to play against one on one. very under-rated player - especially in this thread. he makes an enormous difference to the flames when he is healthy and IMO they would have made the WCF had he been available in this years playoffs - there is no way would they have kept throwing away leads like they did against the hawks with regehr back there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest GordieSid&Ted Report post Posted July 1, 2009 (edited) Wings group is better Offensively but I like the size and grit of Calgary defense better. Both are great though. At least 1 other person on the planet thought enough about this to even bother mentioning it. Couldn't agree more. Yeah, the Wings defense is far better than Calgary's and anyone else for that matter. But it depends upon what you're talking about. Clearly we had defensive issues last season. Clearly nobody wants to discuss how brutal our PK was. Clearly everyone forgot Rafalski's difficulties in his own end, with turnovers and with his lack of speed and reach. We may have a problem if Lilja isn't healthy seeing as he really has a niche for himself on the team as the big, stay-at-home, shot blocker, PKer. It's a great thing to see Stuart and Kronwall light people up on the very rare big, open ice hit. Unfortunately, we don't really have the ability to pound on anybody with our D. We're not big enough, strong enough, tough enough or ill tempered enough to really make life difficult for opposing forwards. Our motto is to be sound positionally so opposing forwards have to work around the forwards to get after our d. But as Anaheim has shown year after year, we're WHOLLY INCAPABLE of stopping big players and big lines like the Getlzaf line or Malkin. We get outsized and outmatched physically. And every single one of us can see it happen in games. Those games where our passes don't connect, where our little cutesy outlet moves from behind the net to a forward near the circles don't work or get intercepted, etc......we have those games where we just aren't able to physically cope with a team that has brought its Grade A legs, forecheck and cycle game. As a Wings fan, the defense is just 1 part of an overall team that wins by controlling the puck and winning the power play battle. Our penalty kill, although better later, for the most part sucked. It quadruple sucked if you take into account the fact that we have Lidstrom and believe we have the best Dcorps in the league. Ironic that that could be true given the porosity of our PK. But as a Wings fan we live with the fact that we don't hit to punish, we can't take it to other teams physically and we can't fight. I'm used to it by now. But I don't see why you can't win and kick the s*** out of people at the same time. Anaheim proved it's possible. What did Detroit prove? That a lineup that included Dallas Drake and Darren McCarty for stretches could win the Stanley Cup. And that a Wings team with no Drake, no McCarty, no physical presence that could actually answer the bell could come within 1 game of winning the cup. Yet, was so banged up and so tired couldn't get it done. I'll take the Wings D for skill but I would rank them 30th for size, toughness and overall physicality. Edited July 1, 2009 by GordieSid&Ted Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flip 5 Report post Posted July 1, 2009 Flames, easily. Lidstrom is definitely showing his age, Rafalski has always benefited from Lidstrom's presence, and Ericsson still has a lot of development left. Bouwmeester is the best defenseman right now of the bunch. Regher is probably the most underrated stay at home defenseman in the league. Phaneuf has dropped off a bit, but we'll see what he can do with another stud on his line. The Flames are absolutely stacked on the blue line. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LeftWinger 5,130 Report post Posted July 1, 2009 Tampa looks pretty goodnow too, with Ohlund, walker and oh yea, Hedman... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
