On the Wings

Update (10:45 PM): Helene St. James elaborates on Khan’s information in a blog post of her own.

She says what might keep Williams out is his neck, which is still sore.

Apparently, Kronwall feels fully healthy again, as he went through the whole practice and even stayed after. Sounds like he’ll be back against the Flames.

She confirms that Holmstrom will not play tomorrow night.

She then points out a bit of a dilemma for Mike Babcock: with Chris Osgood unavailable (he hasn’t practiced all week and therefore most likely wouldn’t play even if he suddenly became healthy), he can play Hasek both Friday and Saturday, or he could start MacDonald in Edmonton with Hasek backing up. The second scenario would seem more likely except for the fact that the Wings’ plan is to never put Hasek into a game cold due to a risk for injury if MacDonald were to get shelled and need to be pulled.

Babcock apparently doesn’t know what he’ll do yet, but I’m guessing they may just play Dom two nights in a row and hope Osgood is ready to start on Tuesday against the Canucks so Dom can watch the game from the lockerroom or wherever he goes when not in the lineup. - Matt

Ansar Khan reports that Jason Williams has joined his teammates in Calgary and feels good after practicing today. He won’t know whether or not he’s playing tomorrow night against the Flames until after the morning skate. If Williams does sit again, three of the four team rookies, at least, will be in the lineup.*

Khans goes on to say that Tomas Holmstrom is not ready to return from a groin injury. Apparently, he left practice early today and will not play this weekend. Niklas “Konwall,” however, could return from his groin injury tomorrow night. If not, both Brett Lebda and Andreas Lilja will be in the lineup rather than just one of them.

Chris Osgood will not dress tomorrow night or Saturday since his hand is still bothering him. Joey MacDonald may get some NHL action on Saturday if Babcock decides to give Hasek the night off.

Link

*Langfeld has previous NHL experience and therefore isn’t technically a rookie - hence the term “team rookies.”