Update (11:00 AM): IwoCPO noticed that, while they all had a different take yesterday, there is now a consensus among the Detroit hockey writers about Henrik Zetterberg’s status for Thursday night: he’ll play. - Matt

Ansar Khan has a piece about Henrik Zetterberg today and comes to a safe conclusion, that Hank will take some time to get rolling. He does include a bit of comparison to Peter Forsberg’s explosive return at the start of the playoffs after missing the 2001-2002 season and has a quote from Mathieu Schneider suggesting Zetterberg could do something similar.

Like Dave of Gorilla Crouch wrote, returning from a back injury of the type Hank has is a little different from returning from spleen surgery (at the very least, his back is a serious threat for reinjury), but I’m with Schneider on this one. He’s been skating for two weeks and all reports say he looks “he hasn’t missed a day.” Even accounting for the difference between practice and games, I think that’s an indicator that he’s going to be an impact player this series.

If both of the Eurotwins are playing top flight hockey, the Flames defense will have their hands full, especially if the other lines are rolling as well. Along those lines, I like the last bit of Khan’s piece, which has Babcock talking about Johan Franzen I, like the coach, think Johan could be huge against the Flames. He’s been playing with an edge and has the size to do it. Plus, he’s been demonstrating a nose for offense. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing him play. Just wait for him to get mad.