Update (2:45 PM): Ansar Khan reports that Johan Franzen will wear a visor at least until the laceration (from taking the puck to his face off Brett Lebda’s stick Thursday) on his face heals, and maybe even after that, “to make his mom happy.”- Matt
… Bruce MacLeod reports that Niklas Kronwall (groin) did not practice today and will not be in the lineup Wednesday against Nashville. The Free Press’ George Sipple quotes Mike Babcock as saying, “He looks like he might be (ready) on Friday” for the game with Columbus.
More from MacLeod:
… Dominik Hasek (hip) has recovered and will be evaluated after tomorrow’s practice to determine the starter Wednesday.
… It looks like Jiri Hudler saw some time with Henrik Zetterberg today. He also practiced as part of the second power play unit with Dan Cleary, Johan Franzen, and Valtteri Filppula. So, his banishment to the fourth line does not extend to practice.
… On top of practicing special teams, the Wings focused on 2-on-2s and 3-on-2s.
… With Kronwall still out, Andreas Lilja will have the benefit of being paired with the smooth-skating Brett Lebda once again and Derek Meech will be paired with Chris Chelios for another game.
… Aaron Downey, Dallas Drake, Matt Ellis and Tomas Kopecky rotated on the fourth line. You have to wonder if there won’t be a change to the lineup with the team preparing to face Jordin “Hit High, Hit Hard, Run Away” Tootoo. Personally, I’d like to see Aaron Downey patrolling the ice Wednesday night.
I’d like to see Downey too - And I think Ellis has proven himself.
Any one of those guys could potentially sit, I’m guessing it might be Kopecky - he hasn’t stood out much lately.
Good point, Nick. Kopecky hasn’t been much of a factor this season, but Babcock likes him, mostly because of his size and willingness to buy into the “Next Draper” projections. He hasn’t done anything specifically benching-worthy, but he’d be on my shortlist of guys to sit in favor of Downey or Ellis.