I don't know if it's a fluke or some kind of trend, but there seems to be an inordinate number of key offensive defensemen who have been injured for lenghty periods of times this season. Currently, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Sergei Zubov, Philippe Boucher, Sheldon Souray, Rob Blake, Brett Clark, Chris Campoli, Brian Pothier, Niklas Kronwall, Sami Salo and Lukas Krajecik are on the shelf.

Other top rearguards who have been sidelined this season include: Dan Boyle, Brian McCabe, Kevin Bieksa, Mathieu Schneider, Shea Weber, Jaroslav Spacek, Joni Pitkanen, Tom Poti, Cory Murphy, Adrian Aucoin and Erik Johnson.

In fact, 16 of the NHL's 30 teams have sustained a significant injury to at least one of their top two offensive blueliners this year. Detroit, Vancouver and Dallas have been hit exceptionally hard, each losing two or three of their top offensive defensemen for significant periods of time.

Is there a reason for the rash of injuries? Probably not. But you have to wonder if loosening up the neutral zone and allowing forechecking forwards to bear down on defensemen might have something to do with it.