Defensive Pairing Options

[Maaq 0]

Liddy - E

Stuart - Lebs

Rafs - Meechers

should be fun to watch, don't you think?

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Lidstrom-Stuart. When they get really tired, Rafalski-Janik. Keep Lebda and Ericsson off the ice, they hurt my eyes when there on the ice.

[Miller Brew 0]

I didn't mind Stuart with meech, but lebda with Ralfi was brutal. Ralfi needs to step up his game.

Edited November 24, 2009 by Miller Brew

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Lidstrom-Stuart. When they get really tired, Rafalski-Janik. Keep Lebda and Ericsson off the ice, they hurt my eyes when there on the ice.

Ericsson's been great. He makes some rookie mistakes and people act like he's not a f***in' rookie. Christ. He's still got 10 points in 20 games. I can't wait to see people act like they weren't being ******-bags on here when he has the best Wings defensive rookie scoring season since Lidstrom's amazing 60pt rookie campaign in 1991.

EDIT:

Man I'm aggressive when defending Ericsson. I must be his friggin' Mother.

Edited November 24, 2009 by Drake_Marcus

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Ericsson's been great. He makes some rookie mistakes and people act like he's not a f***in' rookie. Christ. He's still got 10 points in 20 games. I can't wait to see people act like they weren't being ******-bags on here when he has the best Wings defensive rookie scoring season since Lidstrom's amazing 60pt rookie campaign in 1991.

EDIT:

Man I'm aggressive when defending Ericsson. I must be his friggin' Mother.

Drake, calm down. I'm not talking about points, when Ericsson is on the ice I just feel like the other team is going to score. He's so undecesive in what he does, his passes the past 3 or 4 games have been soft and more then often a turnover. I understand he's a rookie, but with Kronwall and Lilja out now, we need him to step up and play D. He needs to be physical and control his lanes, I know it'll come with age and experience, but you know me, I'll call out anyone on this team, but if Ericsson were to ragdoll some dummie next game in a fight, I'd be jumping for joy

Had to add, he's been better then Lebda, so dont think I'm crazy or anything

Edited November 24, 2009 by Detroit # 1 Fan

[Guest Lidstromboli]

i do believe this seasoned vet will provide the "stay at home" d-man cover that lebda needs

[evilmrt 636]

I didn't mind Stuart with meech, but lebda with Ralfi was brutal. Ralfi needs to step up his game.

I'm not sure what Rafalski's problem is....he seems to be prone to mental mistakes. This became glaringly noticeable during the playoffs last season. Is it him taking the wrong approach to the game, or perhaps some off-ice distraction? Hes a good player, but hes not putting the mental effort forward that he used to.

[skyphoenix 153]

I want to see Holland pick up a good defenseman in the off-season. It's definitely where we are lacking right now.

[Lidstrom for life 20]

Theres an article on Mlive saying Babcock is not happy with the defense pairs and it features the best quote ever:

"I liked some of them, but I didn’t like them all,'' Babcock said after Tuesday's practice. "So what we’re going to do is have more of a floating thing, have two pairs.''

The top two pairs will remain the same (Nicklas Lidstrom-Jonathan Ericsson, Brian Rafalski-Brad Stuart). They'll play against the opponent's top two lines. Then he'll pair one of those players with Brett Lebda and another with Derek Meech to use against the third and fourth lines. And he'll rotate.

"So we’ll almost have an eight-man block with six players,'' Babcock said. "It’s way too complicated to explain, but it’ll be simple.’’