The Injury Wave is Upon Us

[SpikeDDS]

Aaaaaand here it is!

Right now it's only Eaves, Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Howard, and Kindl out, with Zetterberg, Quincey, Cleary, and Bertuzzi still nursing injuries. Gonna be kinda hard to catch Vancouver with these guys out and/or hurting. For crying out loud, we don't need any more guys going down, that's for sure.

I thought it was interesting that Ken and Mickey talked so much about what would happen if JoeyMac gets injured during the game. It's worth mentioning, but they spent significant time talking about it, and more than once. I was sitting there thinking, "Stop it, Mick. Yer gonna jinx us!"

These young kids filling in have played pretty well so far. And boy, that Helm line continues to step it up. I'm glad Mickey wanted to talk about that.

I thought we played relatively solid yesterday, even the young guys. Too bad for that ugly giveaway from behind the net on Kane's GWG. And how many times did we catch the iron? Was it 5 or 6?

That's hockey, though.

Heal boys, heal!

[WingNut722]

Well said @SpikeDDS. I don't think there's a better way to sum it up. I don't believe in jinxes so I will say that if JoeyMac goes down...guess who gets to play in net for Detroit....Ty Conklin!!!

[Digityman]

@SpikeDDS @WingNut722

A few big games coming up with the Flyers, Kings (x2), Ducks and Preds. 5 games in 8 days. Not good for resting bodies....

Everybody needs the point at this point and the Preds would be the match up if the playoffs started today.

[WingNut722]

@Digityman

Not to mention the following week featuring the Sharks, Caps, and Rangers. This stretch of games will essentially solidify Detroit's position in the standings, wherever it may be. Fortunately, we should be getting Lidstorm back soon and Datsyuk isn't far off. Howard is day-to-day but Babcock will not hesitate to put in McDonald just to be sure. Despite the shortened roster, I believe they can come with the stuff to make a decent run through these games. A larger cushion in the standings would be nice, but the Blues have just been too good lately. The Wings are good at stepping up despite injured and tired bodies. I'm not worried.

[yave1964]

Rather now than April, just hoping everyone gets right in time to put those damn blues away. Big difference between 2 and 4 seed is second round, assuming 1,2,3,4 all win, 2nd round as a four we would have to play the Nucks, as a two we would have home ice against the Sharks/Kings/Coyotes. Big difference....

[SpikeDDS]

Two things:

1. I forgot to add Jonathan Ericsson to the injured-and-out list.

2. Wings just called up Connor, Janik, and here's a surprise: Jordan Pearce for backup goaltender. How's that for a message to Conklin?

The one thing about the Red Wings organization and is that we don't often get to see the kids play in the show, because the talent pool is deep. It takes a lot of injuries before you have to go this deep in the system. Well, the time has come. Let's see what these kids can do.

I will say this, whether you like Babcock or not, he's got the right attitude in dealing with these injuries.

"It's all about opportunity isn't it?" coach Mike Babcock said after practice Monday. "You can go around feeling sorry for yourself, which is an absolute waste of time, or you can find more players."

"The bottom line is guys that aren't healthy that are trying to play and can't move, they're not doing us any good anyway," Babcock said. "So let's have a bunch of guys that are healthy, let's get after it, and let's win some games."