Pre-Game Talk: Wings at Canadiens, Wednesday

[Frk It]

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 36m
Kindl said he's not expecting to play next 2 games. Right knee still weaker than left. Needs more practice time.

Keep on Sproulin' Sproulin' Sproulin' Sproulin'

 

[probertANDernie]

Fingers crossed for sheltered PP minutes for Sproul, boy can dream right?

 

[Frk It]

Fingers crossed for sheltered PP minutes for Sproul, boy can dream right?

I'm all for big PP minutes and sheltered ES minutes. Gotta let him do his thing. He gets a clear lane for a one timer and you might as well just turn the goal light on.

 

[Claypool]

Datsyuk and Zetterberg sure could have used that extra two week rest for a playoff run.

 

[Winger98]

The Datsyuk stuff is a bit irritating to hear, but I still think it's going to end up being something that wouldn't have healed regardless and that he'll either play through or not.

 

[JmanWingsFan]

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 36m
Kindl said he's not expecting to play next 2 games. Right knee still weaker than left. Needs more practice time.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 25m
Weiss said he's not ready to play next two games. Needs more practice time. Will skate with Wings instead of playing in GR for now.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 17m
Babcock said Franzen has been cleared but he hasn't decided if he'll play tomorrow. Said all lineup decisions will be made tomorrow.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 16m
Sproul said he is going on the trip with Wings, not going back to GR right away. Gives team 7 healthy D with Kindl out.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 13m
Datsyuk and Howard both declined to talk about their Olympic experiences. Babcock talked about his.

What a mess.... Cripes.

 

[mindfly]

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 13m
Datsyuk and Howard both declined to talk about their Olympic experiences. Babcock talked about his.

I guess someones butt-hurt, did he really think he would get a game or even dress as backup with Quick and Miller ahead of him?

 

[Vladdy84]

Of course Bab's wants to talk about the Olympics. That's the only thing he's won in 4 years..

 

[chances14]

nice to know that datsyuk was willing to play through an injury for the olympics but doesn't really want to push it for the team that pays him a lot of money

 

[InjuredChoker]

Andrew Berkshire ‏@AndrewBerkshire 3 t
Budaj starts against the Red Wings, which was to be expected.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

nice to know that datsyuk was willing to play through an injury for the olympics but doesn't really want to push it for the team that pays him a lot of money

Yup that's pretty much to what I was eluding to.

 

[Claypool]

The Datsyuk stuff is a bit irritating to hear, but I still think it's going to end up being something that wouldn't have healed regardless and that he'll either play through or not.

The margin to make playoffs for this team may come down to a few points. Having Datsyuk and Zetterberg in the lineup could be the difference this year. Instead both are on the shelf now.

Yeah, Zetterberg's back issue would have likely occurred in the NHL anyway. Funny how he opts for back surgery after he goes to the Olympics, though. If he had his surgery at the start of December when he first had his herniated disc he would already be back and healthy by now. But I'm sure Z wanted to make sure he could go to Sochi and having surgery could have jeopardized that.

I'm sure Datsyuk will go under the knife in a few weeks, too.

 

[wings95]

Is there info out there saying Dats will not play? In the Detroit news Babock said he skated fine. What is the problem??

 

[Winger98]

The margin to make playoffs for this team may come down to a few points. Having Datsyuk and Zetterberg in the lineup could be the difference this year. Instead both are on the shelf now.

Yeah, Zetterberg's back issue would have likely occurred in the NHL anyway. Funny how he opts for back surgery after he goes to the Olympics, though. If he had his surgery at the start of December when he first had his herniated disc he would already be back and healthy by now. But I'm sure Z wanted to make sure he could go to Sochi and having surgery could have jeopardized that.

I'm sure Datsyuk will go under the knife in a few weeks, too.

Z's had back problems for years and it's always righted itself with a few games off and probably a ton of cortisone shots. I don't blame him at all for not jumping right to surgery.

As for Datsyuk, as I've said weeks ago, my suspicion is that this is something he could play on without risking more damage but won't entirely heal without some help. I don't like it, but I can't blame him for giving the Olympics a shot. Also, knee surgery would likely kill his season regardless of whether he has it now or a month ago. Rather he have the surgery and just call it a year or rehab/strengthen his knee for a month to see if he could get it to a point he could play out the stretch on it?

 

[chances14]

Is there info out there saying Dats will not play? In the Detroit news Babock said he skated fine. What is the problem??

this is why

Pavel Datsyuk (knee) practiced and said he hopes to play, but didn’t sound too sure.

“I hope,’’ Datsyuk, who wasn’t particularly long-winded, said.

Asked if he feels much better than he did before the Olympics, he said, “Similar.â€

Asked if his status will be determined after the morning skate, he said, “I hope. I don’t know. Hard to say.â€

Asked if this injury will bother him the rest of the season, he said, “I hope so one day the pain is left. Now it’s still the same.â€

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2014/02/red_wings_stephen_weiss_jakub.html

 

[Claypool]

Z's had back problems for years and it's always righted itself with a few games off and probably a ton of cortisone shots. I don't blame him at all for not jumping right to surgery.

He's never had a herniated disc in his back. Mostly spasms. If there was no Olympics this season he likely would (and should) have had surgery in early December, but he didn't opt for it. Now he and the team are feeling the effects of that decision.

 

[silkyjohnson50]

Until Datsyuk actually doesn't play tomorrow, I think some of you are jumping the ship on him a little early. If you've ever watched him give interviews, he's very non-committal, borderline sarcastic in almost all of his answers. I'd be pretty surprised if he didn't actually play.. With that being said, I wonder if they'll give him one game off in the back-to-back scenario that we have here.

 

[wings95]

Until Datsyuk actually doesn't play tomorrow, I think some of you are jumping the ship on him a little early. If you've ever watched him give interviews, he's very non-committal, borderline sarcastic in almost all of his answers. I'd be pretty surprised if he didn't actually play.. With that being said, I wonder if they'll give him one game off in the back-to-back scenario that we have here.

Thanks. That is what I was thinking too, Silky. He may or may not play and people are holding that against him. Wow!!

 

[hot dog]

I don't agree with, but can see, people being upset with Datsyuk. People upset with Zetterberg? After what he did this year, that's insane. Completely unwarranted.

 

[joe89]

He's never had a herniated disc in his back. Mostly spasms. If there was no Olympics this season he likely would (and should) have had surgery in early December, but he didn't opt for it. Now he and the team are feeling the effects of that decision.

If he had surgery early december and sat out until now, he would've missed an equal amount or possibly more games than what he's going to miss now. And if he sat out that stretch, fair to say we would be closer to talking about lottery picks than talking about the playoffs right now.

Anyway we slice it, he'd miss about 1/3 of the season and the points for a win are equal in December and March.

 

[SoupNazi]

GDT is up.