Top 5 shutdown defensemen

KuklasKorner : Hockey:


David Goricki of the Detroit News lists five of the NHL’s top shutdown defensemen…

Nick Lidstrom- Yes

Chris Philips- Yes

Anton Volchenkov- Yes

Brian Rafalski- Huh

Doug Murray- Ah, NO!

Ah, YES! you haven’t been watching him much this season. Murray’s an amazingly better player this season, and he’s been fun to watch. It won’t be long before he’s one of the players OTHER players talk about being nasty to play against, the way they talk about Scott Hannan or Mike Rathje when he was with the Sharks and healthy.

And like Rathje, I doubt Murray will get the respect he deserves from the fans, because his game has turned into one very like Rathje’s — not flashy, not ESPN-clip worthy, but very solid and dependable. The big difference is that Murray is more physical than Rat was, and willing to use his size and strength the way Kyle McClaren does. Rathje was just a kicker of a shutdown defenseman, Murray has turned into that shutdown guy with a physical edge. He looks like he’s very much playing within his game, I don’t expect much of a drop-off as the season goes along.

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