Damn Chief. You called it. Nice one.

The AD might be right - could be Zetterberg getting a day off for his back. I doubt Sammy or Huds gets benched with as hot as they both are… or could just be old-man Drake getting a day off.

Posted by Pete K from Chicago, IL on 03/19/08 at 01:57 PM ET

I’m gonna have to guess it’s Z.  He’s not at 100%.  Or even 80%, I’d bet.

Dan

Posted by ITDeuce from Michigan on 03/19/08 at 02:09 PM ET

Sipple says Filppula is out.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080319/BLOG11/80319025/1053/rss17

Posted by streaver from mi on 03/19/08 at 02:26 PM ET

Sounds like 2002 all over, just rest a bunch of guys before the playoffs start. I’m going to tonight’s game, I hope I don’t see a suckfest.

Posted by Jeremy from Bowling Green, OH on 03/19/08 at 02:42 PM ET

Not a surprise about Filppula.  He’s been getting practices and such off for a little while - may as well rest him during a game and see what that does for his health.

I like wacky, so I’m looking forward to seeing Meech at forward.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 03/19/08 at 02:45 PM ET

To quote Channel 2’s Frank Vitchard, “this is getting ri-goddamned-diculous!”

Rather see Lebda than Meech up front, but oh well…

Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 03/19/08 at 04:10 PM ET

Even though I’m sure you don’t honestly think Meech is an upgrade over Samuelsson on a playoff roster I’ll assume you did or this post I’m about to type out is kinda worthless.

Here’s the lineup I’d like to see Game 1 of the playoffs and yes, we’ll say everyone is 100% healthy and ready to go, no need to make it too messy.

Filppula - Datsyuk - Cleary

Hey, it worked before, hell it worked GREAT before.  Even though I’m not banging the drums saying Holmstrom is worthless without Zetterberg you can’t argue with results and this line has resulted in timely goals and some quality chemistry.

Holmstrom - Zetterberg - Samuelsson/Hudler

This is where it gets a little complicated, while Holmstrom isn’t the greatest skater and Samuelsson is the new Robert Lang around Wings boards these lines have worked before.  I’m not exactly confident having both Holmstrom and Hudler on the same line at the same time, I don’t think either are defensive liabilities as much as some other people do but I’d rather them get split up so it really depends on matchups. 

My contention for keeping Samuelsson in the line lineup in the top 6 is fairly simple, he’s an above average skater, he’s shown the ability to get hot and score goals in bunches, he produced last year in the playoffs and he has chemistry with Zetterberg.  His decision making is suspect, but what can you expect from a 1.2m forward?  I know, I know, he’s in the top 6 so his salary should be slightly ignored, but I disagree, he is what he is.  He’s not as bad as people make him out to be and I hope to God I’m not making him out to be something he isn’t.  I can’t wait for the day that someone who has better tools than Samuelsson comes along and takes his job but for now, even though he’s not scoring as much as previous seasons, he’s still someone who can and will be important during the playoffs.

Kopecky - Franzen - Hudler/Samuelsson

Alright, this one really goes by matchups but remember the 2nd to last Ducks game?  Where Franzen was matched up against the Getzlaf line and suffocated them to death?  Yeah, that’s what we can expect during the post season, depending on the matchup really depends if Samuelsson or Hudler is there, we don’t want Rudy playing against the big boys, but Hudler and Franzen have shown chemistry in the past and Kopecky is capable of handling a job there.

Drake - Draper - Maltby

No chance in hell McCarty is ready, none, there’s no way Babcock throws him in with a game or two (if that under his belt) This line really doesn’t need to be explained, it’s been the same all year.

The thing about having Meech in there as forward and expecting him to contribute in the playoffs is a little crazy, sure on paper when you spell it out like Fast, Defensively responsible ect… it looks good, but the kid has never had a shift at forward in what?  6-7 years?  That’s a recipe for disaster especially if we’re expecting him out there 10-14 minutes.  Now, I’m assuming you weren’t exactly expecting him to come in and actually play so well that he’d knock Samuelsson out of the lineup, but if you were, are you serious? 

Another thing to think of, on the 2nd PP unit, when it’s clicking, Samuelsson isn’t touching the puck, the play goes through Kronwall, Hudler and Cleary.  The interesting thing about Hudler is has he ever played in a 4 on 4 situation since Babcock has been here?  Has he ever touched the ice during Overtime?  I don’t think he has.  Same goes for Downey, no chance in hell he sees the ice in the playoffs unless there’s an injury, nothing against the guy, but his skills are limited as is and with the way Babcock *wants* to use the lineup, he just would be a 4 minute, 2nd period max guy who will be filling up water bottles from there on out, it’d be a waste.

So in conclusion, it will be interesting to see Meech at forward but I’m not buying too much into it.

Posted by Heaton on 03/19/08 at 04:26 PM ET

K, here’s the deal, ladies and gentlemen:

The Red Wings, and every other NHL team, have a maximum of FOUR call-ups from the AHL for non-emergency purposes.  An “emergency” constitutes not being able to dress six defencemen, twelve forwards, or two goalies. 

As Valtteri Filppula is not absolutely, positively, 100% not “able to go” because he’s played through the injury, the Red Wings would have to use one of those four call-ups (they’ve called up Helm, Ritola, and Howard exclusively on emergency bases, but calling up Mac burned one of their four post-deadline recalls). 

As the Wings want to recall oodles of players (think Helm, Ritola, Kindl, Ericsson, Quincey, Howard, the junior and college kids who’ll be on amateur try-outs in two weeks, etc.) when the Griffins’ season is very likely to end without playoff games, they need to hoard their recalls for a hopeful playoff reinforcement of the “We’ve got half a dozen black aces” kind.

Aaron Portzline summed up the Blue Jackets’ situation:

The team has lost rookie [defenceman] Kris Russell to a groin injury. He will not play tonight and he likely will miss Saturday’s rematch at Nationwide Arena.

The Jackets are out of post-trade deadline recalls, having exhausted their four free ones. It means the Jackets cannot promote another defenseman unless they slip below six healthy defensemen. This is part of the CBA. The same rule applies with forwards and goalies The Jackets cannot recall another forward unless they drop below 12.
...
Anyway, Dick Tarnstrom goes back into the lineup tonight against the Red Wings.

You’ve got to manage that carefully, and the Wings might have been told by the NHL, “Dude, we’re counting one of your recalls against you,” so there it is in a nutshell.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 03/19/08 at 06:11 PM ET