During the 2011 off-season , Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski retired . Detroit soon signed free agent defenseman Ian White to take his place . Long-time Red Wings Chris Osgood and Kris Draper also announced their retirement from hockey , with both soon taking positions within the club . Detroit signed goaltender Ty Conklin for his second tour of duty with the team . Tragedy struck the organization and the rest of the NHL upon the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash , which killed former Red Wings assistant coach Brad McCrimmon and defenseman Ruslan Salei , who had joined the KHL team during the summer . Stefan Liv , a former Red Wings goaltending prospect , was also among the fatalities . The Red Wings then added a patch to the left arm of their uniforms with the trio 's initials
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash
Detroit Red Wings