Ansar Khan reports that Valtteri Filppula missed practice today due to a leg injury he suffered during Game 4. Apparently, he twisted his leg when he hit a rut during the third period. He “downplayed” it to Bruce MacLeod and said that he hopes to be ready for Game 1 of the Conference Finals on Thursday.
Fil may be optimistic about his chances to play, but it looks like Mike Babcock isn’t taking any chances. MacLeod points out that the lines from practice today were juggled in such a way that indicates the team is preparing for the possibility of not having Filppula’s services:
Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Cleary-Franzen-Samuelsson
Drake-Draper-Maltby
Hudler-Helm-McCarty
Rather than rotate someone in on the second line, Babcock chose to make some adjustments. Notice Johan Franzen has moved to the middle and Dan Cleary has been promoted from the third line. In this arrangement, Kirk Maltby would finally see some playoff ice time.
Of course, this arrangement is dependent on Filppula’s health. If he’s able to go Thursday night, expect the lines to revert to their second round look, with Maltby as the odd man out again. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are extra cautious with him, though. There’s no particular reason to rush him back if there’s any doubt about his leg. In the event that Filppula cannot go, it will be interesting to see how Franzen adjusts.
Ansar Khan also writes that Chris Chelios (lower body) is ready to play. Apparently, something he’s “had for six years” acted up and that, together with lack of urgency in Game 4, resulted in his replacement by Andreas Lilja. He practiced on the third pairing today, so Lilja should be a healthy scratch again.
Lastly, Khan has the times for the third round games:
Game 1: 7:30 ET
Game 2: 7:00 ET
Game 3: 8:00 ET
Game 4: 8:00 ET
Game 5*: 1:30 ET
Game 6*: 8:00 ET
Game 7*: 7:30 ET
Those are all nice and early. Thank you, NHL.
Nice job on the Avs eulogy…bastard
It was harder to do than I thought it’d be. So much of that stuff is well in the past now…
I must say, I laughed myself silly remembering some of those escapades in the late nineties. The Ray Bourque jersey retirement speaks for itself. Great job writing it. I also enjoy reading your blog… A2Y is very entertaining, and but I find that you consistently provide solid, reasoned analysis and always appreciate reading your thoughts.
That said, it’s hard to hate the Avs anymore… the Wings seem to have much more trouble playing Central Division teams than the rest of the league. And other than Cody McLeod’s octopus throw, a certain dangerous hit on Drake (forget who hit him, but brought back memories of Lemieux on Draper), and the Anti-Holmstrom antics (in which every team delights in participating), there really wasn’t much nasty going on. This series sorta was summed up for me in two statements: the Avs were really unlucky with injuries and the Wings took care of business. The “rivalry” was mostly just a talking point to take up air time… a throwback to an earlier time with different players and coaches when both teams were stacked with talent and had just a bit of bloodlust.
Anyway, good on ya for writing it. Good memories… and here’s to a season where the Wings hopefully make some more good memories. Go Wings!
ludmeister,
Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I’m with you on the rivalry. They’re still the Avs and that will always mean something to me as a Wings fan who began following the team in that era, but it’s just not the same. That’s why I found it more difficult to write that piece than it otherwise would have been. All of the important events in the rivalry are six or more years old now.
I’m not sure who is the biggest Wings rival now. Anaheim, probably, though the big showdown did not materialize this year.