On the Wings

Bruce MacLeod reports that Tomas Holmstrom has returned to Detroit in order to undergo a MRI tomorrow. Although Homer’s right knee had swollen and was causing him pain, Ken Holland told the media, “We don’t think it’s significant.” That’s the spin they’re putting on it now, but they won’t really know one way or the other until later in the day tomorrow.

The Free Press’ George Sipple, by the way, has a better quote from Holland:

“After the game we didn’t think it was anything significant. He woke up this morning and it’s a little swollen and tender in some areas. He’s not playing tomorrow night.”

Because Holmstrom won’t be available for the game against Minnesota, Aaron Downey will return to the lineup.

According to Ansar Khan, it’s not the same knee that Holmstrom injured in the Carolina game, which means last week’s mystery is solved: it was his left knee that kept him out of two games. The Wings’ press release gets more specific.   Khan also has the name of the Blue whose knee did the damage: Jay McClement.

An inconsistency between MacLeod and Khan’s reports: Bruce  says Holmstrom flew back to Detroit instead of making the trip to Minnesota.  Ansar says he flew back after making the trip. Not that it matters, but which story is right? Looks like it’s Khan, as Sipple says the same thing in his post.

Khan has one more note that is unrelated to the Holmstrom story: evidently there is another Red Wing that may be unable to  play against the Wild. The team wouldn’t say who it is, but it’s probably a forward, because Holland said he’d recall someone from Grand Rapids if this player can’t suit up. As Khan points out, they have an extra defenseman in the person of Derek Meech, but they don’t have any extra forwards with two (Maltby and Holmstrom) injured. So, keep an eye out for Mark Hartigan’s name on the AHL transaction wire.