Update (1:30 PM): Helene St. James has more from Babcock on the pairing mixing:
“We did it during different times of the year, and we did it during the Nashville series. We have two real physical guys on the back end who hunt down guys, and we like players we play against to be a little bit nervous. We’re just making sure we’ve got everything covered.”
Okay, but I’m with George Malik in hoping this is just to throw the Stars off. - Matt
Update (12:48 PM): MacLeod has added a post-practice update to the same post:
Filppula was off the ice before special-teams drills as a precaution. Coach Mike Babcock said: “We’re going to find out tomorrow. That was the first time he’s skated in a while. We didn’t want to push it.”
- Matt
Bruce MacLeod reports that Valtteri Filppula has returned to the ice after missing two practices with a twisted leg. That should mean he’s in for Game 1, barring a setback today or tomorrow.
As a result of Fil’s return, the lines have reverted to their second round look. Kirk Maltby is the odd man out again.
Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Franzen-Filppula-Samulesson
Cleary-Draper-Drake
Hudler-Helm-McCarty
Also, MacLeod notes that Babcock has mixed up the top two pairings, putting Brad Stuart with Nick Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski with Niklas Kronwall.
Lidstrom-Stuart
Kronwall-Rafalski
Lebda-Chelios
I’m not a fan of that idea. It didn’t work so well in the first round, if you recall. It’s certainly an odd decision going in to Game 1, as the Wings have home ice advantage and the last change. They should be able to get the matchups they want without splitting up the pairings that have worked so well throughout the run. Here’s hoping it’s just a practice experiment.
I don’t like the new D pairings - but I’m happy to see Dmac is in the line up. Really for the limited ice time I think he’s been effective for what we can expect.
As for the pairings I’m assuming Babs is more respectful of Dallas’s depth in Morrow, Madano, Rebeiro, and Richards and is trying to spread the wealth. I completely agree this didn’t work in Nashville and shouldn’t be changed from Colorado but thats just my opinion. However, with this pairing you have 2 puck movers in Lids / Raff that can boost multiple line’s offense. Hopefully this is the case.
The D pairs won’t really matter. As SJ and Ana found out, the Stars have too much depth. Diluting your top D line only weakens the defense against Ribeiro’s line. But then you have to account for Modano’s line. Even if you could account for the Stars top 3 lines, you then have a 27 goal scorer playing on the 4th line. Good luck with that.
Stars in 6.
I don’t know if moving the D pairings will do too much to stop the Stars. At the same time, I don’t know if much has to be done… No offense to the Stars, their offense is pretty solid lines 1 through 4, but Detroit has 5 solid Defensemen (and Lebda’s capable). Nick, Rafi, Kronner, Stuart and Cheli are all able to play in all situations and play well. Turco has been on his game, but I think Wings Off vs Stars Def will simply outscore Stars Off vs Wings Def…
Wings in 3! (I know it’s not possible, but it’s a dream of mine. I’ll be at Game 3 wearing the Bright White Lidstrom Jersey in the sea of Black Jerseys of Stars Fans)
And you have a multiple Norris trophy winner on the 3rd pairing.. you know, in case you missed that.
And the Wings are a full goal per game over the Stars.
And Turco is 0 for awful at the Joe
But hey stats are just stats - should be a good series. I’ll be at National Airlines Arena with my Wings jersey on Monday.
Or American Airlines.. whatever.
Greg, you don’t suppose Ana/SJ versus Cal/Col has anything to do with GFA, do you?
GAA regular season ranks:
#2 Anaheim
#3 SJ
#12 Colorado
#15 Calgary
Kind of makes that full goal per game not quite a little meaningless, doesn’t it?
Here’s a news flash for you. Past Norris trophies don’t mean you are good now. If Chelios is so good, why is he on the 3rd pair? While your defensemen are good, they don’t quite stack up to Anaheim’s, and the Stars had no trouble with them.
And before you start doggin’ Turco, I would move out of the glass house. Osgood hasn’t done a whole lot to instill confidence in the Wings chances with him in goal. Remember, he got yanked when Hasek returned. Call me crazy, but I assume that was for a reason. Namely that the Wings thought they had a better chance with Hasek. Osgood looked good in the Avs series, but Colorado at 60% would make any goalie look good.
“Kind of makes that full goal per game not quite a little meaningless, doesn’t it?”
Please ignore the “not quite” in that last sentence…
Yes, I am an idiot. Substitute Nashville for Calgary. However, Nashville wasn’t any better than Calgary during the regular season. The 2 tied at #15.
Whoa - fearing the flame of internet flame wars, I’m stepping back…
Enjoy the Series - I’ll be watching!
“But hey stats are just stats - should be a good series.”
That’s how I feel. I don’t get in pissing wars, but competition is always good.
Cheli’s on the 3rd line because our top 2 pairs are best in the league. Give me a Rafalski over part-time Neds. And give me a Lidstrom over…everybody. And Chris “suspension” Pronger I’ll never want on any team i root for.
And I know Hasek was pulled. I in fact watched, believe it or not, every wings game. Hey almost every game in the playoffs so far. Ozzy’s went 6-0. We never hid any fact that we have 2 world class goalies that we can go to if any struggle. I don’t see a problem with this scenerio?
Anyways flame wars are stupid. And belong on forums.. not Matt’s blog. Here’s to a good series!
Brandon,
It’s one thing to vaunt the Stars’ depth. It’s another to ignore the Wings’. From where I stand, the Wings are top-to-bottom deeper than Dallas, with the exception of goaltending.
The Wings will have to be very, very good in this series to come out on top. I’m under no illusions about what the Stars are capable of at this point in their run. If Dallas isn’t dictating play, they’re sure to pounce on any mistakes the Wings make. On the other hand, you can count on the Wings making Dallas pay for any mistakes. If Detroit has to be very, very good, the Stars will have to be flawless.
You’d better hope they’re more cautious about Detroit than you seem to be. If they share your attitude, they’ll be ripped to shreds.
As it is, I believe they know what they’re up against and that they’ll make it a series. Will it be enough? We’ll see. I can’t wait.