Datsyuk, Draper out; Lidstrom, Ericsson in

Bruce MacLeod has the news here.Great news on Lidstrom and Ericsson, obviously. Expected, but sucky, news on Datsyuk and Draper.

Apparrently, both Ericsson and Datsyuk took part in the optional morning skate, but obviously in Jonny’s case it was to make up for two days of not skating, and in Datsyuk’s it was just another test drive of his bum foot. Here’s hoping he’s able to go tomorrow, though the odds of him improving enough a single day later don’t seem all that good.

It must be pretty serious pain to keep him out, because even a 75% effective Datsyuk is better than no Datsyuk. From media reports of practice yesterday, it sounds like he couldn’t get around all that well.

Preview/pre-series commentary coming this afternoon.

Filed under: Playoffs

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Comments

  1. Ryan says:

    The odds of him watching a game of the finals and realising he doesn't want to miss any more of them are a little better than the odds of his foot improving significantly in a day, I think.  You're right that a 75% Datsyuk is better than no Datsyuk.  Even if he can't go against Malkin every shift, he still brings a ton of value on the power play, on faceoffs, and I'd feel at peace with the world every time I see him go out there against Staal.  But somehow, I got a feeling that won't happen.  When Datsyuk comes back, he'll jump straight back into his big boy boots and play 18-20 minutes against some of the best players in the world.

  2. Jason says:

    Well here's hoping his no-later-than-game-2 assurance holds up; it sucks even more because I'm not used to worrying about Pavel's health, since he's been so consistently healthy the last few years. Hank, Johan, Marian, Tomas and even (to a much smaller extent thankfully) Nick have all had enough physical issues where you kind of hold your breath everytime they get hit, but if they go down for a few days, you're not overly surprised. But Pavel's been a rock, and after two tough series you gotta believe he really wants to be out there to showcase his best stuff on the big stage and show up the NHL and their Crosby/Malkin lovefest. So yeah, it's gotta be something serious or at least very limiting to keep him in streetclothes… bah, of all the time for the hockey gods to collect their toll.

    So, yeah, get quick healthy, Pav! Please.

    You know, it occured me to for some reason just now that when I was rambling on about Pittsburgh in an earlier comment, I said their Philly series went 7 when it only went 6… and I watched that game too. One day I'll learn to count to 7, I guess. Oh well, probably didn't change whatever point I made. Not that it has anything to do with anything here.

  3. Garry says:

    This Datsyuk issue is absolutely ridiculous and the Detroit organization has not been "straight" with it's fans. For all we know this guy's out for the finals and I certainly wouldn't doubt it.

  4. Baroque says:

    George Malik had some more info on Datsyuk – he wants to play very badly, but Holland said that he didn't have any explosiveness, so he is staying out until he gets that back – he specifically said they want him healthy, even if it's later in the series when the team might need more of a spark.

    It's a bad bruise – the recovery time on a bruise is highly variable.

  5. Garth says:

    "This Datsyuk issue is absolutely ridiculous and the Detroit organization has not been “straight” with it’s fans."

     

    What do they owe us?  Why should they be straight with us or with anyone else?

     

    That said, I'm guessing he'd be in if we weren't paly back-to-back, and I assume he'll be in tomorrow.

  6. Garry says:

    Well assume all you want, Garth, 'cause he's out (again).

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