Our Defense issue

[FedorovMan91 1]

To start, I did not watch the game so I do not know how our D has performed tonight but here is a thing. Since late 80s and 90s and till 2008 when we won the cup, strong defenses were the reasons the Wings could reach such a high level every season. Some journalists called this team would not do well every year but our D bailed ur out.

However, I am really starting to feel scary of our defenses. Be honest, since the start of the last season, I think our D is not even close to the high level of the NHL. Well, some teams like Coyotes always perform bad so they are the exceptions but compared to high rank teams, I think our D is far behind from their level.

I think the destruction of our D has started since Rafalski has come to this team. Be honest, from my view, he is better in last year than this year. This guy takes 6 milllion salary but he does not even play to the level of 4 million D. Besides, as Kronwall and Stuart looked to play far better than the last year, Kronwall just got injured. Now, who is the pair of Stuart?

If we see the name value of our D, it looks like a strong defense. On the other hand, as I watch the Wings game more and more, I really cannot feel any confidence in our D as before. When people with even many Wings fans thought the Wings would do bad in 06-07 season, our offenses were not that strong but our D could keep us in the game. Now what? Lost all the FA during the summer off season and doing horrible now even with consideration of the injuries. Just got out skated every time, slow, and wondering during the PK.

Any thought?

[thedisappearer 291]

1. There wasn't too much defense in the late 80's, early 90's.

2. The Rafs bashing thread is still on the first page.

3. You can't win if you don't score... and we don't.

4. What defensive FA did we lose last off-season? I guess you could argue Hossa, but that's pretty weak. This is the same exact def group as last year, minus Lilja, who was out last year as well.

Edited November 28, 2009 by thedisappearer

[RedWingedKitten 9]

Quick question, what happend the year we brought in Rafalski?

He plays next to Lidstrom, and is not the reason for our defensive problems the last two years.

Team defense + goaltending both need to improve. Having Kronwall and Lilja out does not help either.

[The Mule 0]

For the love of God, get rid of Lebda and Meech and bring up Janik and Kindl.

[Winged_Wheeler 3]

Our problem is Brad McCrimmon, assistant coach that is in charge of our defense. This includes the pairings, positioning, and PK. This is one of the biggest mistakes Babcock has made, hiring this goon. Babcock looked at McCrimmon's resume and saw Saskatoon Blades and took him regardless of his past coaching experience. Not to mention McCrimmon has been fired from multiple teams.