The Detroit Red Wings' struggles last season really began when they lost defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom for a month with an injury. The Red Wings called Lidstrom's injury a deep bone bruise, and it kept him out for the majority of March. When Lidstrom returned, he appeared in the final couple weeks of the regular season and then played in all five games of the Red Wings' series against the Nashville Predators.
↵Although he did come back at the end of March, it was clear Lidstrom wasn't 100 percent healthy, and now it has come out that he had more than just a deep bone bruise.
↵↵↵Ken Holland, incidentally, confirmed today that Lidstrom had a hairline fracture in his ankle, not just a deep bone bruise. (cont.)
↵— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) June 1, 2012
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↵Ansar Khan reports that the injury didn't affect Lidstrom's decision to retire because his ankle would have been fine by next season, so it didn't play into Thursday's announcement.