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Until Lidstrom’s Back…It’s All Static
by IwoCPO on 12/27/08 at 05:18 AM ET
Comments (12)
Last February proved something to all of us: if the Wings lose Nick Lidstrom for anything longer than a commercial break, certain doom is to follow shortly.
So losing to Bubba last night? Secondary. Irritating? Yes. But because we’re a big picture group here, the loss itself matters little.
Now, it’s all about the ankle.
Looks bad, eh? Good thing it’s not Nick’s. That belongs to some dude named Frankie.
Deep breath. Relax.
By now you probably know it was a Shea Webber slap shot off the outside of Lidstrom’s foot. Dave Dye called the slapshot “vicious.”
X-rays were negative, but Lidstrom’s ankle was swollen after the game. He is questionable, if not doubtful, for tonight’s game.
“I couldn’t really skate and push off with that foot,” Lidstrom said. “I’ll have to try it out (this) morning (at the game-day skate).”
George Malik had this a few minutes after the game and, from what I can tell, not much has changed.
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock told Fox Sports Detroit’s John Keating that Lidstrom took a shot off the side of his foot during the team’s first penalty-kill about seven and a half minutes into the game, and after that, he couldn’t turn very well. He attempted to play on his foot (which one, Babcock wasn’t saying) to start the second, but couldn’t go, so he had an x-ray and it came back negative.
Babcock says that Lidstrom’s status becomes a “comfort issue,” i.e. whether he can withstand the pain of a sore foot and play through it, and he believes that Lidstrom should return either tomorrow vs. Colorado or for Tuesday’s game vs. Chicago.
So it ain’t broke, but you still gotta fix it. The question, as Uncle Mike said, is pain management. Would a night off tonite in Denver mean less pain for two against Chicago next week? Probably.
Oh, and Chicago won last night…again. They’re five points back…again. They’ve got two games in hand.
A few non-ankle related items from last night:
—I couldn’t hear the specific words of the various chants Bubba was mumbling last night, but I definitely recognized the tone and the rhythm of the LGRWs that drowned Bubba out more than once. Nice job to all the “transplants” in TN.
—We’ve dubbed them the Chocolate Factory because two of the three are straight out of Wonka: Charlie Buckets and the Oompa Loompa. I’m not sure how Filppula fits into that yet, but who cares. I just love watching that line play right now. The maturation of Jiri Hudler has been something to behold.
—Andres Lilja just looks confident. His pass to Samuelsson was great. He looks good in his own end. I’m confused and my head is fuzzy.
Chris Osgood tonite? Uncle Mike told one of the Diggers Jimmy Bedard still wants a few more practices out of him and Piet Van Zant (no relation, by the way, to Ronnie, Johnny, Lacy or the rest) hasn’t fully cleared him. He brought up the “plane ride” again, like that’s the official medical meeting place or something. My guess? Osgood starts tonite.
Updated 0711 EST: Malik’s got a lot more on the Lidstrom injury.
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Comments
Looks bad, eh? Good thing it’s not Nick’s.
You bastard! I nearly choked on my bagel when I saw that. You’re a mean, mean man, Chief. Funny as hell, but also very mean. 
The maturation of Jiri Hudler has been something to behold.
Right now, I’d say he’s one of the Top 20 stickhandlers in the league. When he has the puck, defenders back off of him just like they do with Pavel. And, as Murph pointed out last night, there’s no hessitation anymore when he gets the puck. He’s on pace for a 30-goal, 40-assist season, and signing him should be priority #3 for Tick Tock.
Andres Lilja just looks confident. I’m confused and my head is fuzzy.
Ditto. It’s like someone flipped the proverbial switch in his head and it suddenly dawned on him he actually could play in this league. The back-skating to get a new stick and cover the defensive zone last night was a Lidstrom-style move. Who knew?
And speaking of who knew? Who knew the Kronwall we saw in the playoffs last year would simply disappear this year? Offensively he’s about where he should be, but he’s a -3 and the last time he threw a hit I think it was by accident. Thank god Stewart has stepped up or Pavel might be leading the team in hits right now.
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 12/27/08 at 11:41 AM ET
Man, the Wings finally string together not just a couple wins, but a couple good performances against the Sharks and St. Lose, and then blow this one to the Preds. They weren’t bad in the game, just couldn’t get it. Credit to Nashville’s defense. Have to think that having Nick out on a few of the PPs would’ve helped them tie the game up.
Posted by Nathan on 12/27/08 at 11:42 AM ET
—We’ve dubbed them the Chocolate Factory because two of the three are straight out of Wonka: Charlie Buckets and the Oompa Loompa. I’m not sure how Filppula fits into that yet, but who cares.
Just change “Wally” to “Willy” and there you go. Or keep “Wally” and add a “Wonka”...
Posted by cephalopod from Chicago...nope, still not over it. on 12/27/08 at 12:42 PM ET
And speaking of who knew? Who knew the Kronwall we saw in the playoffs last year would simply disappear this year? Offensively he’s about where he should be, but he’s a -3 and the last time he threw a hit I think it was by accident. Thank god Stewart has stepped up or Pavel might be leading the team in hits right now.
It’s possible that he’s been instructed not to pinch as much, especially with the way we’ve been playing defensively.
That, or his defense partner is hitting everybody in sight, so he doesn’t have any good targets. Kronwall was never an overly physical defenseman anyway. He just made the highlight open ice hits during the playoffs. I think his game is better utilized as trying to become another Lidstrom that is a bit more physical, as opposed to trying to become a Pronger.
Posted by halomasterd4n on 12/27/08 at 01:05 PM ET
The maturation of Jiri Hudler has been something to behold.
The Dude still has a long way to go…
9 of his 13 goals came at Even Strength and he is only +3.
9 of Datsyuks 13 are ESG and he is +13.
Trade him to the Pens, they love that kind of profile, and
would not use him on the PK either.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 12/27/08 at 03:01 PM ET
Please no Osgood tonight and please a solid 60 minutes of hockey. PLEASE!
Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 12/27/08 at 03:11 PM ET
Just change “Wally” to “Willy” and there you go. Or keep “Wally” and add a “Wonka”…
Pure genius. In retrospect, so obvious.
Charlie Buckets, Oompa Loompa, and Wally Wonka. Ladies and gentlemen, The Chocolate FactorY!
Posted by monkey from here to Timbuktu on 12/27/08 at 03:53 PM ET
Hmm, the unintentional capital Y gives it a NyQuil type vibe. Not sure how I feel about that. Chocolate Factor Y sounds like something Wonka would come up with though.
Posted by monkey from here to Timbuktu on 12/27/08 at 03:55 PM ET
Just change “Wally” to “Willy” and there you go. Or keep “Wally” and add a “Wonka”…
Pure genius. In retrospect, so obvious.
And so it shall be. Damn. I can’t believe I missed that. I’m hungry.
Posted by IwoCPO from Sunny San Diego, bitches on 12/27/08 at 03:59 PM ET
Found an absurdly easy way to find out ahead of time what feeds will be available on Center Ice:
The In Demand Nhl Schedule from indemand.com
Tonight we’ll have the Dive on the Dive Altitude feed, and on the 29th we can watch Montreal play Florida via a FRENCH ONLY FEED!
The game on the 30th against the Hawks will be dual feed, etc, etc. It’s all in the PDF my friends….
Posted by monkey from here to Timbuktu on 12/27/08 at 04:21 PM ET
Trade him to the Pens, they love that kind of profile, and would not use him on the PK either.
Say what? Since when has Happy been used on the PK? And as for his +/- compared to Datsyuk’s, that might have something to do with the defensive pairings that are on the ice at the time. Pavel is almost always on the ice with Nick and Rafalski. Happy is amost always on the ice with Lilja and Lebda.
Come on, HTT, I expect more from guys like you than the simplistic use of statistics that you threw out.
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 12/27/08 at 07:02 PM ET
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No way Nick goes tonight; I don’t want him to “play through” this for a game in December, even if it’s Colorado, we need the points and he’s hitting his stride. F*** it!
Oh, and Chicago can suck my roasted chestnuts because those little bitches are about to get bitchsmacked. Which probably means we’ll lose. Doesn’t matter. Make the playoffs first young-ins, then we’ll rekindle a real rivalry.
Posted by Osrt on 12/27/08 at 08:53 AM ET