Fil is on the ICE!!!  From “The Highlander” at Red Wings Corner:

Update from the Red Wings’ Wednesday practice ... Valtteri Filppula is on the ice and skating on the second line with Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson.
The lines at practice (Note also the split of Lidstrom and Rafalski on the top two defense pairings) ...

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Franzen-Filppula-Samulesson
Cleary-Draper-Drake
Hudler-Helm-McCarty

Lidstrom-Stuart
Kronwall-Rafalski
Lebda-Chelios
Meech-Lilja

Osgood
Hasek
Howard

Coach Babcock is stating that Fillpula will be a game time decision; from KHAN!:

Update from Wednesday’s practice: Wings forward Valtteri Filppula practiced after sitting out the last two days with a leg injury. Coach Mike Babcock said they’ll wait until Thursday to see how he reacts and then decide whether to dress him for Game 1 vs. Dallas.

“That was the first time he’s skated in a while,’’ Babcock said. “We didn’t want to push it.’’

Also, Wings general manager Ken Holland said he hadn’t heard whether Swedish prospect Fabian Brunnstrom will decide Thursday on which team to sign with, as a report out of Toronto indicated. Holland said the last time he spoke to Brunnstrom’s agent, J.P. Barry, he was told a decision might not come until next week. He is said to have narrowed his choices to Detroit, Dallas and Montreal, though some reports indicate Toronto is still in the mix.

Coach Babcock, on splitting the Lidstrom/Rafalski pairing, from Helene St. Jame’s at the Free Press:

Babcock also split up his two top defensive pairings, putting Nicklas Lidstrom with Brad Stuart and Brian Rafalski with Niklas Kronwall, giving each pairing an offensive flair and a physical presence.

“We did it during different times of the year, and we did it during the Nashville series,” Babcock said. “We have two real physical guys on the back end who hunt down guys, and we like players we play against to be a little bit nervous. We’re just making sure we’ve got everything covered.”