Niklas Kronwall

For any pair of NHL defensemen, toughness is a mandate. These pairings do it better than any other.

Toughness is a difficult concept to quantify. For these rankings, I considered statistical measures such as fighting, shot blocking, penalty minutes, hitting and ice time in addition to more qualitative factors, like a players’ ability to play through pain or strike fear into the hearts of his opponents.

The Detroit Red Wings entered these playoffs looking shaky.  At one point in the season, they were right behind Vancouver in the race for the top seed.  They then finished the season by losing 10 of their final 23 games.  That record not only kept them from that top spot, but it also allowed San Jose to overtake them for the second seed.

The Detroit Red Wings are the closest thing to a dynasty that this hockey era will see.  The Red Wings continue to put together a competitive team that is always a threat to win the Stanley Cup despite never having great or even a good drafting position. 

Detroit is waiting to see whom they will play in the second round of the 2011 NHL Playoffs so while we wait let's look at 10 bold predictions for their offseason.

I will start off by saying hockey is a fast sport and it is impossible for on-ice officials to call the rules correctly, but even keeping that in mind, officiating in the NHL is terrible and it was far worse than most games Saturday March 19 in a Predators-Red Wings game.

Whether you are are an NHL fan or a Detroit Red Wings fan, you have become accustomed to the type of style of play they have perfected over the last two decades:

Puck possession.

Detroit has always been a team that no matter where the shot is taken from, weak or hard, they put it on the net.

Another thing that Detroit has always been known for is their power play.

The Detroit Red Wings, as we all know, have always been a constant force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference.

When Detroit went through its injuries  last year, it was a lot less Detroit Red Wings and a lot more Detroit Griffins.

At one point in time, Detroit had a total of ten regulars out of the lineup due to injuries, including top players Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, and Tomas Holmstrom.

The Hershey Bears and Washington Capitals lost some defensive depth Tuesday when Dean Arsene and Staffan Kronwall both signed with NHL clubs in Alberta, Canada.