I have a post on today’s roster movement up over at the FanHouse.
One thing I forgot to mention in that post is that Bruce MacLeod lists Ty Conklin as the starter tonight against Montreal. This is in keeping with the goaltender rotation announced yesterday. For the record, I recant my comment about a goaltender controversy in this post. Garth argued me into a corner on that and then the news broke about the rotation.
Both Helene St. James and Ansar Khan report that Tomas Holmstrom has been sent home early so that he can undergo an MRI tomorrow. If it’s bad enough to send him back now, it doesn’t seem likely he’ll return to the lineup this week.
Helene St. James reports that Niklas Kronwall (ankle) will return to the lineup tomorrow after skating today in Calgary. This is great news since we all know Nik’s injury history. A game here and there is a fair return on all of those season-ending injuries he suffered prior to last year.
Tomas Holmstrom (back spams), on the other hand, will not play against the Flames. He’s still feeling the effects of having an Oiler fall on him Monday night, and told St. James that “[i]t feels like somebody stabbed a knife in the back.”
Derek Meech will get at least another game in the lineup, though this time he’ll suit up as a forward, apparently for the fourth line. This obviously neutralizes any hope of seeing Ville Leino or another Griffin join the forward corps, for now anyway.
It looks like Tomas Kopecky remained on the top line in practice today. Unfortunately, Jiri Hudler is still on the third line despite the fact that his recent offensive contributions have overshadowed Mikael Samuelsson’s.
It’s possible that the goaltending situation could be heading for a controversial patch, as Ansar Khan reports that Ty Conklin will start versus the Flames. It seems Mike Babcock may not feel Chris Osgood’s play improved enough over his break last week. Osgood will play Monday in Vancouver, however, so he’s not too deep in the doghouse; he’s just not the automatic starter at the moment. With the Wings shaping up defensively, Osgood needs to be careful to improve apace or he may be charting faceoffs more than he’d like.
Also, this is beyond my skill set, but the Official Blog has a contest going that you might find interesting if you’re capable in graphic design. The goal is to create an “I Voted” badge to be placed on sites by fans who cast votes for the six Red Wings who are on the All Star Game ballot. The prize is an autographed picture by the current Wing of your choice. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, November 25th.
I have some commentary on the game over at FanHouse in the form of a Defending the Cup feature.
So reports Ansar Khan. No surprise there.
Update (3:40 PM): Ted Kulfan has some quotes on the move from Ken Holland. Its function is to allow the Wings to quickly clear up the cap space needed in a situation requiring the call-up of Jimmy Howard. - Matt
Update (1:51 PM): I’ve been distracted enough so far this season that it slipped my mind: Mac was waived last month as well. So, yeah, this is just an administrative move and one that is likely to keep happening throughout the season. - Matt
TSN reports that the Wings have put Darren McCarty on waivers.
With two players (Chris Chelios and Dan Cleary) still out with injuries and McCarty playing well over the past few games, it’s unlikely Mac will actually head to Grand Rapids if he goes unclaimed. This is a move to allow for flexibility once Cleary and Chelios do return. If he clears, McCarty can be sent down in the coming weeks without any hassle.
Others in the Wings blogosphere have noticed that the official team blog is back, though at a new home apart from the NHL cookie-cutter site.
The most recent post has the team asking fans how it can better connect to them through online social media. That they’re asking is a good sign for an organization that has not been very open over the years.
Another good sign is their long-awaited acknowledgement of blogs as illustrated by the inclusion of links to some Wings bloggers in the sidebar.
It’ll be interesting to see where they take the blog this season.