COLUMBUS, Ohio – If you thought the Chicago Blackhawks were the kryptonite for Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks I want to introduce you to the love/hate relationship between central division rivals.
So far this season the two teams have played three games against one another and the Blue Jackets have taken three of the Red Wings players out of commission.
First off Mike Modano. Remember him? Long time franchise face for Minnesota/Dallas? Modano came to Detroit to finish out his career after Dallas decided he was no longer part of their future. He scored his first goal as a Red Wing in his first game as a Red Wing; things were going great until late November in a game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, where in a freak collision, Modano suffered a severed tendon in his wrist. It’s surprising this doesn’t happen more in a game played on ice skates.
Fast forward to the game Friday night.
Now the Red Wings injury list includes Modano, Chris Osgood, Brad Stuart, Pavel Datsyuk, and Dan Cleary. Valtteri Filppula just came back the previous game and Henrik Zetterberg has admitted to having some ābumps and bruisesā and needs time to heal rather than playing in the NHL All-Star game.
Goaltender Jimmy Howard is out with what is being called a ādeep bruised kneeā and Tomas Holmstrom is out for four weeks with a broken hand.
What exactly happened to Howard is uncertain. Reports say that he took a puck to the knee (clearly not in the goalie pad); but the video footage of the play makes it hard to see where the puck actually hits. Red Wingsā color commentator Mickey Redmond sounds just as baffled looking at replays.
This reminds one of when Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding went down in his first game of the pre season with an ACL and MCL injury (given one of the St. Louis Blues skaters fell on him). I would not be surprised if Howard just went down wrong; and hopefully just has a slight pull (no tear) and after some rest will be back between the pipes. If that is not the case, then the Detroit Red Wings are looking at being backstopped by Joey MacDonald and Thomas McCollum.
Never heard of McCollum? That is probably due to the fact that at this moment he is either packing a bag and grabbing gear or is in a car driving from Grand Rapids to Detroit. The Red Wings play in Detroit Saturday (against the Blue Jackets of course) and they need to dress a back-up.
Thomas McCollum was the Red Wings’ first round draft pick in the 2008 NHL Entry draft. A native of New York he played for the Guelph Storm and the Brampton Battalion of the OHL before splitting the 2009-10 season between the AHLās Grand Rapids Griffins (10-16-2) and the ECHLās Toledo Walleye (2-1-0). His current Griffinās stats are 5-10-2 allowing 51 goals against and a 3.11 goals against average.
Now back to Tomas Holmstromā¦
Every fan of the remaining 29 teams hates this guy. He is your goalies worst nightmare and your defensemenās biggest pain. You canāt just whack at his legs to get him to move. But he is a large part of the Red Wings’ core. Having already won four Stanley Cup rings with the team (and Olympic gold with team Sweden in 2006) he has refined ānet-front presenceā to an art.
Usually when Holmstrom is injured, the Red Wings put Dan Cleary into his spot. But Cleary is injured as sell. Odds are Detroit is going to have to call up another forward from the Grand Rapids Griffins, but who?
Do they bring back up Tomas Tatar? They just sent him back down. Do they offer Ilari Filppula (older brother to Red Wings second line center Valtteri Filppula) his shot at the NHL? He was SM-Liiga playoff MVP last year – why not.
Or do they make a trade?
It is unclear whether a trade (major or minor) is coming for Detroit unless something else major happens. Ken Holland showed last year that he has faith in his organizations system beyond just those currently donning a winged wheel.
Contact Monica.McAlister@prohockeynews.com
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