Abel to Yzerman
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Are You Well Enough To Watch?
by IwoCPO on 03/06/07 at 01:45 PM ET
Comments (13)
Bubba doesn’t feel well. He’s got the flu, a broken foot, an upper body issue and a back thing going on. But he’s the picture of health compared to the Wings.
Injuries: Detroit—Tomas Holmstrom (upper body), G Dominik Hasek (thigh), F Todd Bertuzzi (back), F Henrik Zetterberg (back), F Dan Cleary (knee), F Mikael Samuelsson (foot), F Tomas Kopecky (collarbone), out.
Nashville—F David Legwand (upper body), F Jason Arnott (flu-like symptoms), probable; F Peter Forsberg (upper body), doubtful; F Steve Sullivan (back), F Scott Hartnell (foot), out.
Can you recall a game this allegedly important with such a rash of injuries? Me either.
I say “allegedly” because I’m still not sold on just how important winning the Central is to the Wings. Bubba? Oh, he wants it bad. Terry Crisp has been rocking back and forth all day, sucking his thumb and speaking in tongues. Wait, he’s speaking English as usual. All 9 Nashville school children who could name a Pred player whose last name isn’t the Tennessee spelling of an Asian nation will receive free rabbit ears to watch the game tonite, and they’re pumped.
But, does that make it a vital win? Nah. Tied but down in the win column, down by four points, down by two points, second in the division, fourth in the conference, President’s Trophy…none of it matters and we all know it. At least those of you in Detroit know it.
We’re more concerned with the injuries, the broken Wings if you will. Tell me, which is more worrisome: Zetterberg’s back, Hasek’s “thigh”, Bertuzzi’s back, Cleary’s knee, Holmstrom’s “upper body”, Kopecky’s collarbone, Samuelsson’s foot? Take into account the severity of the injuries as well as the role of each player. The easy choice would be Hasek’s “thigh”, especially considering Osgood’s mediocrity on Sunday.
But, Uncle Mike says he’s back on Sunday or sometime close to that. He lies to us all the time though, so take that for what it is.
Myself? Homer’s got me frowning a bit. Obviously we can’t lose Zetterberg. Cleary and Samuelsson we need back as soon as possible and Bertuzzi…well, that’s kind of icing on a big volcano of a cake. But Homer’s the wild card, I believe. I have to think Zetterberg would be in there IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY, but they don’t (despite the world-stopping importance of tonite’s matchup), same with Hasek. But any time Holmstrom has to sit, it worries me because he takes so much abuse that this must be fairly serious.
Back to tonite and your Grand Rapids Griffins. As George Malik pointed out this morning at Snapshots, we’re looking at a lineup with 8 recent AHL’ers: Lebda, Filpulla, Hudler and Howard; plus Hussey, Ellis, Bootland and Langfeld.
So despite Bubba’s ailments, a win tonite would be something to take note of if you’re a fan wearing a baby-poop colored jersey. Even more so if Howard starts. I haven’t seen any news of whether that’s the case or not.
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Comments
Has word been given that Homer will be out 2-3 weeks? Khan(!) said “a couple of games” in his blog yesterday which would have him out for a week. Just curious where you heard that… if that’s the case, then it is worrisome.
Posted by Nathan on 03/06/07 at 02:41 PM ET
Good point abut Homer, Bill.
As far as the Central goes, winning it is the safest way to avoid playing the-team-we-do-not-name. I know after last year’s regular season success translated into yet another disappointment in the postseason, I wanted to see the team go into the playoffs 4th or 5th, just to see if it’d make a difference.
But with the choice between 1st and 4th, 1st would seem better, especially if it means avoiding that one unnamed team. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to have the Wings fighting for it right down to the wire, which seems likely.
That said, I still hesitate to express wishes about first round opponents, because I’ve learned the hard way that we Wings fans are most often wrong about the hoped-for, or seemingly ideal, matchup.
That’s why I say, “tonight’s game is important if the Wings want the Central division title,” in my game previews. I’m not about to say whether or not I’d like it!
Posted by Matt Saler from Grand Rapids, MI on 03/06/07 at 07:21 PM ET
I think we all tend to overthink this. The team has won from the top seeds. They have won from the mid seeds. They have lost to very good teams, and they have lost to mediocre teams.
I haven’t gathered the stats or anything, but I highty doubt that there’s any significance one way or another in strategies like resting players down the stretch versus being in a race, versus a 1 seed or a 4 seed. I think the better team wins.
Posted by Nathan on 03/06/07 at 07:27 PM ET
jmara, whatever you did worked!
Posted by Nathan on 03/06/07 at 11:19 PM ET
I could care less what position the Wings enter the playoffs. When they’ve exited early the last few years, they lost to teams that either won the cup or made it to the finals haven’t they? They just keep running into teams that are playing their absolute best hockey right at playoff time. Not to say it wouldn’t have been nice or that the Wings shouldn’t have won more in the playoffs than they did, but hot goalies can be a bitch. Especially when you’re the team shooting at them all the time.
Posted by wedge from MI on 03/07/07 at 08:09 AM ET
I slammed a beer. I guess I will have to do that at the begining of every OT.
Posted by jmara85 on 03/07/07 at 11:08 AM ET
I’ll chip in for the beers for the rest of the season, if you get a little short of cash! 
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 03/07/07 at 12:37 PM ET
They are changing the name of “THE GAY”
What is IwoCPO going to do?
Posted by jmara85 on 03/07/07 at 01:00 PM ET
It will always be “The Gay” in our hearts… what?
Posted by Nathan on 03/07/07 at 01:35 PM ET
They are changing the “Gaylord Entertainment Center”
back to the Nashville Arena. Iwo calls it “The Gay”
Posted by jmara85 on 03/07/07 at 02:41 PM ET
I understand. It was a joke. The “what” wasn’t a real question. It was more rhetorical.
Posted by Nathan on 03/07/07 at 03:23 PM ET
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I was just wondering if you were going to comment on Homer being injured and voila! here is your post for today. I agree with you, Homer’s injury is very troublesome, espeically if they are saying he is out for two to three weeks. What is going to happen to Pavel’s production with both Homer and Zet out of the lineup?
So maybe the good side of this (if there is one) is that we will be getting all of these players back just before the playoffs start. Trying to find a silver lining here.
Posted by hockeychic on 03/06/07 at 02:06 PM ET