Archive for the 'Valtteri Filppula' Category

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3/27 Notes

Published by Matt Saler on March 27, 2008 at 10:45 am in Aaron Downey, Brad Stuart, Darren McCarty, Dominik Hasek, Henrik Zetterberg, Injuries, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom and Valtteri Filppula. 3 Comments

Update (8:01 PM): From the “why make it public? file: Dave Waddell got the location of Brad Stuarts broken finger from the man himself:

“I have pretty good grip with my other three fingers (on his right hand), so that’s a good sign.”

For those keeping score at home, that’s his top hand, which should mean his return will come earlier than expected since his lower hand does most of the serious gripping. Stuart is confident about being back in time to play in Game 1. Here’s hoping he’s mostly, if not all, healed by then because that hand will have a big target on it now that the whole world knows the location of the injury.

Waddell also has something on the McCarty versus Downey situation. Key quote from Mike Babcock:

“We’re giving Mac an opportunity (tonight), Downs probably won’t be playing (tonight), but that’s just so Mac can get into a game. That’s no reflection on what Downs has been able to do with us.”

Still, both players will be competing for roster spots. George Malik sums it up nicely:

One might see McCarty’s ready-to-play status is healthy competition for Dallas Drake and, to a lesser extent, Jiri Hudler or Tomas Kopecky as a 3rd/4th line presence who can excel on the forecheck instead of a replacement for Downey’s role as a pure “policeman.”

Of course, McCarty’s ability to excel on the forecheck at the NHL level these days has yet to be proven. - Matt

Update (2:14 PM): … Ansar Khan reports that Dominik Hasek will not play tomorrow and that Chris Osgood will start.

… He also says that Tomas Holmstrom is supposed to undergo further testing today. Apparently Mike Babcock doesn’t know the results of yesterday’s tests, but told Khan that it’s looking positive. I’ll believe it when I see Homer back in the lineup.

… Khan clarifies MacLeod’s comments on Samuelsson by saying the Swede left practice early. According to Babcock, he’s questionable for tomorrow.

… Dallas Drake told Khan he’s ready to go, but Babcock wouldn’t commit to it.

… Brad Stuart told Khan that he’s optmisitc he’ll be back in time for Game 1.

… Khan also confirms that Aaron Downey will be scratched tomorrow. - Matt

Update (12:56 PM): MacLeod has more:

… I don’t know why this didn’t register with me before when I looked at the lines: Mikael Samuelsson did not skate today. MacLeod says it’s because he has “tightness in his groin.” Apparently the team is being cautious, so his status for tomorrow is unknown.

… Dominik Hasek could play tomorrow, depending on how he feels tomorrow morning.

… It looks like Blues fans will be disappointed: Aaron Downey will be a healthy scratch, with Mark Hartigan (unfortunately) getting a spot instead.

… It looks like Valtteri Filppula will be back tomorrow. - Matt

Update (11:52 AM): Just after I publish, I see Bruce MacLeod’s latest:

… Hasek did not practice today, so he must be out tomorrow. Jimmy Howard already made the drive down I-96 and practiced with the team this morning.

… Darren McCarty’s debut is still on.

… Tomas Holmstrom “took a quick twirl,” but didn’t stay any longer than that.

… Valtteri Filppula stayed out there the whole time, though MacLeod casts doubt on his status for tomorrow night by saying “[he] might be back in the lineup soon.”

… Lastly, the line combos from practice:

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Cleary
Hudler-Franzen-Filppula
Kopecky-Draper-Maltby
Hartigan-Drake-McCarty

Don’t read too much into Drake’s presence on the fourth unit. He practiced Monday as well, but didn’t play Tuesday. There’s still a chance he could sit out once again.

The defensive pairings haven’t changed:

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Chelios
Lebda-Lilja

- Matt

… The big news is that Darren McCarty will make his re-debut with the Wings tomorrow night against the Blues. It will be his first game in the Winged Wheel since May 3, 2004, and his first in the NHL in nearly a year. No word yet on who he’ll be skating with, but don’t expect a full-fledged reunion of the Grind Line. He probably won’t be getting third line minutes.

Thanks to Christy Hammond at Behind the Jersey, who was kind enough to give me tickets, Megan and I will be at the game. No pressure Mac, but a repeat of your last home debut would be nice.

… Tim Miller, writing over at Bleacher Report, has a good take on the whole McCarty return. He provides some needed perspective on the situation. Referring to Friday, he writes,

A great game, and a great story, but one that a Red Wings fans should hope ends on April 6th when their top 12 forwards, including Holmstom and Flippula, are deemed healthy enough for the post-season. The lineup that has driven this team to the President’s Trophy and gives them the best shot at post-season success.

Miller goes on to cite McCarty’s speed problem, his effective disappearance in Calgary, and the fact that he’s returning from a rib injury, which he says is “not a the best injury to have for a grinder.” Indeed.

I’m thrilled to see the success of Mac’s comeback attempt, but I’m keeping my expectations low. I joked about his hat trick above, but I don’t actually believe he can reproduce his AHL performance in the NHL. The question is whether or not he can fill a role on a team that is already very-well rounded. On one hand, I hope he can, but on the other, I’m with Miller. Mac is not going to be the one piece that puts the Wings over the edge because they already have all the pieces. If his addition does nothing more than give them the option of inserting him into the lineup, that’s fine because it’s really all they need.

… Helene St. James reports that Dominik Hasek (flu) is on antibiotics. If he can’t practice today, the Wings will recall Jimmy Howard, who they sent back to Grand Rapids yesterday. Here’s hoping the flu bug doesn’t spread any further.

… Barring a setback in today’s skate, Valtteri Filppula (knee, groin) is expected to return tomorrow night. Dallas Drake, on the other hand, is questionable with a bruised sternum.

With Fil and Mac in the lineup and Drake out, the lines should look something like this:

Filppula-Datsyuk-Franzen
Samuelsson-Zetterberg-Cleary
Kopecky-Draper-Maltby
McCarty-Hudler-Downey

… The status of Tomas Holmstrom (abdomen/groin) for the remainder of the season is still unknown. The results of his tests should come out today. It’s not looking like he’ll be back before the end of the regular season.

… Ted Kulfan reports that Brad Stuart (broken finger) will start rehabilitation today or tomorrow. The goal is to have him back by Game 1 of the first round.

… The Wings will have an open practice on Saturday. The doors open at 11:00 AM and the skate starts at noon. If you bring new or used hockey equipment, you get in free. Otherwise, it’s a $5 donation. The money and the equipment will go toward inner-city youth hockey programs.

… Ansar Khan has a nice piece on the possible Selke candidacies of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Arguments can be made for both players, who should finishe 1 and 2 in any case. However, I think Datsyuk’s reputation as an offensive forward hurts him. It seems to me that his two-way ability is one of the best-kept secrets in Hockeytown. Zetterberg’s two-way game is well-publicized and has been ever since he entered the League. Datsyuk, on the other hand, is only getting acclaim for his defensive play more recently.

Even I have a hard time imagining Pavel winning the Selke over Hank, but that may just be my homerism for #40 coming through.

… Over at Abel to Yzerman, IwoCPO suggests the Avs hire Patrick Roy as head coach after they fire Joel Quenneville. That would be … interesting.

… Lastly, I can’t let this pass without comment. The idea that Aaron Downey is a coward or classless is ridiculous. The guy has been the epitome of class all season and, by all accounts, is universally respected in the Wings’ locker room. He has been very smart to pick his fights wisely and so it’s no surprise to me that he turned down King Tuesday night. There’s no law, written or unwritten, that says he has to answer every challenge. Downey’s job is to spark his teammates with big hits and the occassional fight, not to allow himself to be goaded into dropping the gloves.

I’m sorry Blues fans, but if you’re looking for someone to call a coward or classless, look to your own team. Downey is a much better man than, say, Barret Jackman, who was, is, and always will be, a donkey.

If Downey decides to drop the gloves in defense of his character tomorrow night, I fully expect to see him acquit himself well. If he choses to keep his gloves on, I’ll certainly think no less of him.

3/8 Injury Update

Published by Matt Saler on March 8, 2008 at 4:27 pm in Brett Lebda, Chris Chelios, Darren McCarty, Injuries, Nick Lidstrom and Valtteri Filppula. 0 Comments

… Helene St. James, Ansar Khan, and Bruce MacLeod all have Tomas Holmstrom out tomorrow with a groin/abdominal injury. Apparently, Homer has dealt with such pain before this season, but it’s more severe this time around. According to Khan, he’ll have an ultrasound on Sunday.

The absence of Holmstrom means Mark Hartigan will be in the lineup.

… All three beat writers say Nick Lidstrom (knee sprain) is still scheduled to play tomorrow, though his status won’t be finalized until after the pre-game skate.

… Brett Lebda did not practice today due to an illness and is not going to play tomorrow. Either Jonathan Ericsson or Derek Meech will fill in for him. Babcock did not specify.

… Khan says Chris Chelios (bone chip, right leg) is in playing condition, but the team is being cautious. Apparently we can expect him back Tuesday.

… According to MacLeod, Darren McCarty has his own locker stall now, but he did not practice today due to his rib injury. He will not play tomorrow.

… Valtteri Filppula practiced today after missing yesterday’s with a sore thigh. He’s expected to play tomorrow.

3/7 Post-practice Update

Published by Matt Saler on March 7, 2008 at 1:08 pm in Chris Chelios, Darren McCarty, Injuries, Nick Lidstrom, Tomas Kopecky and Valtteri Filppula. 0 Comments

Bruce MacLeod has the latest from the Joe:

… Nick Lidstrom (knee) participated in battle drills today and is headed for a Sunday return. The team will finalize his status on Saturday after practice.

… Chris Chelios (bone chip, right leg) is feeling better and hopes to be ready to play against Nashville. However, MacLeod says it’s unlikely he’ll dress and that he’s it’s a better bet he’ll return Tuesday.

… Darren McCarty is in town, but only to undergo treatment for a rib injury he suffered Sunday. He played through it Wednesday night, but must have aggravated it during that game. MacLeod says he may play for the Griffins Saturday night. He’ll be back in Detroit on Monday as his conditioning stint will be over.

… Valtteri Filppula apparently has a leg injury that kept him out of practice. Mike Babcock said he’ll be okay for Sunday, though.

… Tomas Kopecky skated and suffered no ill effects from the big hit he took late in the game Wednesday night.

2/27 Notes

Published by Matt Saler on February 27, 2008 at 7:02 am in Brad Stuart, Henrik Zetterberg, Injuries, Jonathan Ericsson, Niklas Kronwall, Oilers, Pavel Datsyuk and Valtteri Filppula. 2 Comments

Update (10:26 AM): The comments on IwoCPO’s response to Drew Sharp are worth reading, as usual. Particularly Baroque’s from 8:36 AM. - Matt

Update (10:04 AM): Brennan at Gloveside has a great discussion on the Wings’ breakout troubles here. The post includes what has to be the line of the week at the end of third paragraph. I won’t spoil it for you.

As for the solution to the breakout issues: Nick Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, and Chris Chelios. As talented and impressive as Derek Meech, Kyle Quincey and Jonathan Ericsson have been, they can’t measure up to the masters of that particular art form. - Matt

Update (8:35 AM): IwoCPO responds to Drew Sharp’s column here. - Matt

… The Wings lost last night in Edmonton, 4-3 in a shootout. They overcame a two-goal lead in the third and then gave up a goal in the final minute of the period as the Oilers forced overtime. Robert Nilsson scored the only goal in the shootout to give Edmonton their 13th shootout win this season.

I was not able to watch the game, but judging from the highlights, it was an exciting one.

… Good news: Valtteri Filppula scored last night and now has two goals in a little over a week. That’s closer to the correct rate of scoring, Fil.

… More good news: Jonathan Ericsson notched his first NHL goal to put the Wings on the board. Hopefully that’s just the first of many, many more.

… Anyone else want to see Pavel Datsyuk shoot the puck like that more often? I love it when he breaks out that rocket snap shot of his.

… It was nice to see Henrik Zetterberg try something a little different in the shootout. That brings the number of shootout moves in his repertoire to a grand total of about 4. Maybe someday he’ll come across a goalie that hasn’t seen the Forsberg Deke™ and he can use that one again!

… Post-game links

… The papers are understandably stocked with stories about Brad Stuart today:

Helene St. James has a straightforward piece about the new defenseman, complete with quotes from Ken Holland. It looks like he won’t join the team until tomorrow, though he is expected to play Friday. The man slated to be his defensive partner, Niklas Kronwall, is expected to return that night as well.

Ted Kulfan’s lede says it all:

The Red Wings found out last season a team can’t have enough defensemen during the playoffs.

Very true.

Drew Sharp, of course, second-guesses the move and wonders why Ken Holland wasn’t able to land a forward when guys like Martin Lapointe and Sergei Fedorov went to the East for a song. Two words Drew: Central Division. Two more: Eastern Conference. Put them together and you have a simple concept: the Wings are in the same division as Chicago and Columbus, and those teams aren’t looking to do the Wings any favors. And vice versa.

The Caps and Senators, on the other hand, are in the Eastern Conference and therefore not immediate threats to the success of the franchise. Do you get it? Sure, it’s disappointing that the Wings were able to bring in some scoring help, but the simple fact that the Jackets and Hawks are in the Central meant the asking price was too high for them.

Also, Martin Lapointe, Drew? You’re upset that they didn’t bring that loser back?

John Niyo has a refreshingly positive look at the move and makes a great point. Whereas teams like Dallas, Colorado, and San Jose are placing their hopes in their new acquisitions,

… teams like Anaheim and Detroit, the presumptive Cup favorites before Tuesday’s wheeling and dealing, are banking on something else: Themselves.

When Jiri Hudler’s turn came up at the shootout last night, Ken Daniels said a goal there would have be a much-needed boost to his confidence. He didn’t score, but you have to think that his not being traded was a boost of sorts. The same goes for the other struggling forwards. The management showed faith in the current squad and that counts for something. Whether the guys will honor that faith remains to be seen, of course, but it’s hard to believe that they won’t.

Niyo also points out that the Wings did not give up any of their “kids.” That will pay off in the future and, with the team they have at the moment, shouldn’t hamper their chances now.

For another blogger’s perspective on the trade, see Gorilla Crouch.

11/5 Notes

Published by Matt Saler on November 5, 2007 at 2:28 pm in Andreas Lilja, Brett Lebda, Chris Chelios, Dan Cleary, Derek Meech, Dominik Hasek, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Lines, Links and Valtteri Filppula. 2 Comments

Update (2:45 PM): Ansar Khan reports that Johan Franzen will wear a visor at least until the laceration (from taking the puck to his face off Brett Lebda’s stick Thursday) on his face heals, and maybe even after that, “to make his mom happy.”- Matt

… Bruce MacLeod reports that Niklas Kronwall (groin) did not practice today and will not be in the lineup Wednesday against Nashville. The Free Press’ George Sipple quotes Mike Babcock as saying, “He looks like he might be (ready) on Friday” for the game with Columbus.

Thank You Ansar!

Published by Sarah Baker on April 20, 2007 at 10:14 am in 2006-2007, Flames, Mikael Samuelsson, Mike Babcock, Playoffs, Robert Lang, Todd Bertuzzi and Valtteri Filppula. 9 Comments

Thank you for validating everything I’ve been thinking for this entire series. Khan has a great little piece on his blog today (of which I am not the only fan) highlighting the Wings’ struggles against the Flames and providing a number of helpful suggestions. Let’s just hope he sent Mike Babcock a copy.

Suggestion #1:

He should insert Jiri Hudler back in the lineup. Hudler played with a lot of energy in the first two games.

Jiri played so well in the first two games, only to be dropped with the return of Todd Bertuzzi. Now Bert has earned his keep, but there’s no reason Hudler shouldn’t be out there in place of one of our underachievers. I’ve been hoping Huds would get the call over Samuelsson.

Suggestion#2:

Or he might take out Samuelsson, who has just one assist in 10 playoff games the last two years. If he leaves Samuelsson in, he should at least stop playing him on the point on the power play. It isn’t working. Brett Lebda would be a better option.

Every time I bring up the idea of scratching Samuelsson, somebody says “Oh, but he’s playing the point on the power play.” Here we go again. Babcock is a great coach, but what is his obsession with putting forwards on the PP point?! Now, Samuelsson is no Jason Williams – he’s not a total liability there. But he’s not producing either. It just is not working. Oh, and if I had a dollar for every time I’ve told somebody that Lebs would be a better choice than Sammy for the PP point in the last two weeks, I’d be watching the next game from The Joe instead of my living room. Brett is a great skater and he’s got tons of offensive ability. He’s practically a forward anyway with the way he’s always wheeling around in the offensive zone. Babs should be all over this.

Another thing that I’ve had a hard time understanding is the fact that, despite being one of our hardest working players, Filppula can not manage to get decent ice time – instead it continues to go to guys who are simply wasting it. The thing that really gets me is that Babs admits that he should be playing him more.

“He probably wonders why the coach doesn’t get him on the ice more and the coach wonders that himself,” said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. “My son told me after Game 1 that I didn’t play Fil enough.” (via USA Today)

Even his kids know it! Is Babcock aware of the fact that he’s the coach and he’s actually allowed to make these changes himself? If he thinks he deserves more time, why doesn’t he give it to him?

Suggestion #3:

Valtteri Filppula needs to play more. I’d also try to find a way to work him in on the struggling power play.

Power play time? Now there’s an idea. That would give Fil more playing time AND change up our miserable power play. No, I think that would make too much sense…

Despite Babcock’s stubbornness regarding lines, he has done more this year than last and for that I am most greatful.

Coach Mike Babcock’s reluctance to change his lineup or even his line combinations proved costly in last year’s first-round loss to Edmonton. He made a good move by replacing Kyle Calder and Mikael Samuelsson on the second line with Todd Bertuzzi and Johan Franzen.

Darn right, Ansar. I just want to know what took him so long. I think everybody and their brother knew that Todd needed to be on that second line with Lang the day he returned to the ice. Sometimes I think Babcock is just a little too reluctant to make changes. It scares me. When you’re afraid to make changes, then sometimes you don’t do it until it’s too late. Hopefully that won’t be the case in this series.

Oh, and for anyone who didn’t think Babcock was completely insane for putting Lang out for the last faceoff of game 3 (I’m sure there is no such person, but you never know):

Robert Lang has won only 17 of 54 face-offs.

For those of you without calculators, that’s about a 31% win percentage. That means he loses them 69% of the time! I bet every time the opposing center sees that he’s facing off against Lang, he throws a little party in his head. “Freebie faceoff win! Coach will think I’m good at those! Yay!”

Suggestion #4:

Maybe Franzen should start taking the draws for that line. It couldn’t be much worse.

Sure it could, Lang has actually made an improvement from his game 1 faceoff win percentage – a whopping 20%.

Basically, I think Babs has made some unfortunate decisions up to this point. Maybe he’s overcomplicating things. To put it simply, the players who are playing the best should be playing the most. Makes sense to me. If someone’s not cutting it, they should be replaced, whether it be on the PP, in the faceoff circle, or on the lineup completely.

Breaking News: Valtteri Filppula leaves game

Published by Matt Saler on March 14, 2007 at 8:49 pm in Injuries, Links and Valtteri Filppula. 2 Comments

Update (15. Mar, 12:00 AM): Helene St. James reports that the injury occured when Filppula took a shot off his foot. Mike Babcock assured the media after the game that he’s fine, that it’s not broken, and that he’ll be back in a few days. St. James rightfully points out on her blog that they thought the same thing about Mikael Samuelsson until they found out a few days later that it was broken. He only just recently made it back, after going down in January. So, take Babs’ words with a grain of salt. – Matt

Valtteri Filppula has left the game with a lower body injury and will not return, according to the FSN crew. The Wings’ injury troubles continue to get worse. Fil’s last shift came about midway through the second period.

(2)

Griffins Reveal Clear Day Roster – Featuring Filppula

Published by Sarah Baker on March 3, 2007 at 1:37 am in AHL, Griffins, Josh Langfeld and Valtteri Filppula. 2 Comments

The Griffins clear day roster was released yesterday – the AHL requires that all teams submit a list of 22 players at the deadline (March 1). These are the only players eligible to play in the remaining games of the season and in the playoffs. Players may be added only in case of injury. The only exception is that college and junior players may be added when their respective seasons end.

I was surprised to find upon reading the list that Valtteri Filppula was on it and Josh Langfeld was not. Surely the Griffins aren’t expecting Detroit to send the promising young Filppula down anytime soon. I mean, he’s playing on the top line right now – filling in for Henrik Zetterberg. He’s clearly made an impression on both Babcock and the Wings Organization, so I don’t see them being too eager to demote him. We should have enough roster space to keep him once the team gets healthy – as long as Tomas Kopecky doesn’t return this season, which, Ansar Khan points out, seems unlikely:

Doctors told him he could be ready to play by April. The team will decide in the next few weeks whether it’s worth the risk of having him play this season. It doesn’t sound like he will play. (via Mlive)

So why bother putting Fil on the Clear Day Roster? According to Joe Conklin of the Grand Rapids Press:

The Wings expect a long playoff run, but they want to keep their options open if there’s an early exit. Filppula isn’t subject to waivers, and he’d come back to Grand Rapids the same way Brett Lebda did last year. It also appears Langfeld is with the Wings for the long run.

I suppose that makes sense, especially considering the fact that Langfeld is considered a veteran (played more than 260 games as of the beginning of the season) by the AHL and would put Grand Rapids over the limit of 5 veterans per team. They’re not necessarily expecting to get Filppula back, but he’s on there just in case.

2/10 Notes

Published by Matt Saler on February 10, 2007 at 1:11 pm in Danny Markov, Dominik Hasek, Flyers, Henrik Zetterberg, Jiri Hudler, Joey MacDonald, Nick Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Pavel Datsyuk, Peter Forsberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Trade Rumors and Valtteri Filppula. 2 Comments

Update (4:00 PM): Taking a page from James Mirtle’s book, I’ve added a section the sidebar (“Other reading”) that will display links to hockey-related items of interest that don’t get blogged here (or that I haven’t yet had time to mention). It’s through Google Reader and is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but it wasn’t very easy to implement on WordPress blogs until recently. - Matt

… Chuck Gormley continued his “Forsberg watch” for the Courier Post yesterday with another installment. Nothing very new, though Gormley expands on his idea that Forsberg would like to come to Detroit, saying that it’s because

“two of the Red Wings’ top four scorers, defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and left wing Tomas Holmstrom, are from Sweden.”

I see your point, Mr. Gormley, but three of their top four scorers are from Sweden. Not sure how you missed Henrik Zetterberg.

Anyway, he goes on to say that the Wings may be interested in dealing either Andreas Lilja or Niklas Kronwall as part of the package. Personally, I think that if the Flyers are dumb enough to take a Lilja package (perhaps with Williams), it wouldn’t be such a bad deal. But if they demand someone like Kronwall or Hudler, I’d hope they’d say “no.” There is little use in throwing away two key pieces of the future for a player who may only be with the team until July 1st.

The story that was being reported earlier in this saga was that the Wings would demand that Forsberg sign a contract with them as part of any deal, and that may still be one of their stipulations. However, it doesn’t look like Forsberg would be willing to do so, as there is talk that he’d look to return to Philadelphia after a playoff run with another team. The Wings may decide Forsberg is worth the short-term benefit and hope that they could convince him to stay afterwards, but I think it would be foolish to give away one or more of their future stars in exchange for a player that could retire (if he does sign a long term contract) or bolt (if he doesn’t) at any moment.

Peter Forsberg certainly has the ability, if healthy, to make a huge impact on the team, as Nick Lidstrom told Ted Kulfan yesterday, but, given the likely asking price, it doesn’t seem to me that the Wings have the organizational depth to pursue a deal without really hurting their future.* Now, if Forsberg works out some kind of Hasek-like deal with Philly (“Don’t take too much from them, I want to be able to win.”) or the Flyers get conned into taking Lilja and Williams, it’d be worth it, if he were healthy. That’s a pretty big “if,” in my mind, even though he seems to have found a solution. My question is: will it last or will it be like the other “solutions”?

… George Sipple reports that Joey MacDonald will get another start in the coming back-to-back series. It will almost certainly be Monday night in Philadelphia as Dominik Hasek ough to be in net tomorrow against Calgary. Joey is still looking for his first NHL win and hopefully his teammates will show up to play this time around. He’s played extremely well in almost all his games this season, but hasn’t gotten the support he deserves from the skaters.

… Sipple also says that the Wings are concerned about their slow starts in the last nine games. I am too, though I have been impressed by their comeback ability and determination not to give up. Still, they’ll have a much harder time pulling off such comebacks in the playoffs, so hopefully they’ll find motivation to play hard from the first drop of the puck to the buzzer at the end.

… There is some variety to the reports on the nature of Danny Markov’s injury: The Freep calls it a “contusion in his middle back” and claims Piet Van Zant’s authority; the News calls it a “sore shoulder, ribs”; and TSN just calls it a shoulder injury. All three say he’s listed as day-to-day.

*There are those fans who dislike Niklas Kronwall, Jiri Hudler and even Valtteri Filppula for mistakes they make and for their lack of production. This is because we were spoiled by Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg making an immediate impact. We have forgotten that most young players need years to develop and that they aren’t likely to be stars right off the bat. Kronwall, Hudler, and Filppula are very likely to be big names in the League in years to come, but they aren’t going to be that immediately, though I personally think they’re pretty good even now. So, that’s why I say the Wings would be mortgaging their future if they trade any of them away, even though they might not seem so valuble now.

1/27 Injury Update

Published by Matt Saler on January 27, 2007 at 3:11 pm in Chris Osgood, Dominik Hasek, Injuries, Jimmy Howard, Joey MacDonald, Kris Draper, Mathieu Schneider, Matt Ellis, Matt Hussey, Robert Lang and Valtteri Filppula. 2 Comments

Ansar Khan reports the following:

… Chris Osgood broke a finger on his right hand during warmups last night and played through it. Apparently, it’s not serious, but it could keep him out of the action for a while.

… Fortunately, both Joey MacDonald and Dominik Hasek, who were down with the flu, are expected to dress tomorrow for the Colorado game. Megan points out that if MacDonald, Hasek, and Osgood end up not being capable of playing tomorrow, the best goalie the Wings have available is Stefan Liv, who will have played two games in a row after tonight (Jimmy Howard is out with an ankle injury). Not a good situation, though I’m sure Dom and Joey will be able to suit up, since they did practice today.

… Kris Draper, Valtteri Filppula and Robert Lang are also expected to be ready to go tomorrow after practicing today. Khan, though, is right to say that Matt Ellis and Matt Hussey should keep their cell phones on because they very well may have to drive out to Detroit tomorrow before the game.

… Apparently, Mathieu Schneider feels “great” and could possibly return tomorrow. Khan says that he’s more likely to sit out one more and return Tuesday, but says Chris Chelios hurt his shoulder in practice and if he can’t go, the Wings might insert Schneider earlier than planned. Chelios finished practice, though, and should play tomorrow.

… Mikael Samuelsson hopes to begin skating in a week, but there’s no further news about when he’ll be back in the lineup.