Game 1 Wings vs Hawks Game Day Updates

The Dirt

• Jimmy Howard left practice early again yesterday and today. He left early before games 6 and 7 against the Ducks as well, but we were told it was nothing to be concerned about... It was the humidity, they were keeping him fresh etc... Take a deep breath and don't panic, because... It's a sore hamstring that Howard has been dealing with. Again, we're told it's nothing to be too concerned about and Jimmy is expected to start tonight. I haven't heard anything official reported about it, but I don't think it's a coincidence that Jimmy gets a sore hamstring muscle right after Corey Perry kicks him in the groin (twice) in game 5. Eat shit Corey Perry, eat shit and die. The sore hamstring didn't seem to bother Jimmy in game 6 or 7, and thankfully he'll have more time to rest between games in this series.
  
• Probably of no consequence, but the Wings sent Tom McCollum back to Grand Rapids and recalled Jordan Pearce. Neither Tommy nor Pearce would see action in the Wings playoffs and maybe the Griffins wanted McCollum to back up Mrazek in their playoffs.
  
• Samuelsson also left practice early yesterday and Babcock said he was a little banged up. He wasn't even on the ice for practice today and told reporters that he re-aggravated his pectoral (boob) muscle injury and is day-to-day. He won't be in the lineup tonight. Maybe never? Hey, we can hope.
  
• Cory Emmerton is back in the lineup tonight after missing last game. Ted Kulfan tweeted today that Babcock said he wanted to see more compete level out of Emmerton.
  
• Drew Miller may return to the lineup sometime in this series. Miller wouldn't comment on when he though it might be, but said it was definitely a possibility. He got his cast removed this week and has been practicing with the team and stick handling, and he was working into the morning skate today. Woo!
• Datsyuk and Zetterberg will start this series how they finished the last one, on separate lines.
  
• Franzen will have to go with teeth tonight if he wants to pull something out of Patrick Kane's mouth.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Asked @<a href="https://twitter.com/88pkane">88pkane</a> if he'd throw the mouthpiece in for old-time's sake w/Franzen: "Um, no. I’ll still stick with no mouthpiece for this series."</p>&mdash; Brian Hedger (@BrianHedger) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianHedger/status/334433562373804032">May 14, 2013</a></blockquote>

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• Danny Cleary... Making me like him less and less all the time... I'm sure this was intended as a joke, and he probably laughed or something, but I still think it's stupid.
  

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Cleary on 'Mad House': "Intimidation can’t be any sort of factor and our kids aren’t smart enough to realize what intimidation is anyway."</p>&mdash; Brian Hedger (@BrianHedger) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianHedger/status/334426892205703168">May 14, 2013</a></blockquote>
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• Viktor Stalberg will be out of the lineup tonight per "coach's decision" and he'll be a game by game decision. Quenneville isn't telling the media why he's chosen to put Daniel Carcillo in the lineup over Stalberg, but he said he's told Viktor, and he knows where he stands and what's going on. Speculation is that Stalberg was unhappy with his PP time (or lack thereof) in the first round.
  

Lineup

Forwards
Johan Franzen	Pavel Datsyuk	Justin Abdelkader
Valtteri Filppula	Henrik Zetterberg	Daniel Cleary
Gustav Nyquist	Joakim Andersson	Damien Brunner
Todd Bertuzzi	Cory Emmerton	Patrick Eaves

Defense
Niklas Kronwall	Jonathan Ericsson
Kyle Quincey	Brendan Smith
Jakub Kindl	Carlo Colaiacovo

Goalies

Jimmy Howard

Jonas Gustavsson

Jordan Pearce

Healthy Scratches

Mikael Samuelsson

Jordin Tootoo

Ian White

Injured

Danny DeKeyser (Broken Thumb)- Out for the season

Darren Helm (Back)- Out for the season

Drew Miller (Broken Hand)-May return soon

PP#1

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Franzen

Kronwall-Brunner

PP#2

Nyquist-Filppula-Cleary

Kindl-Colaiacovo

Blackhawks lineup

Forwards
Brandon Saad	Jonathan Toews	Marian Hossa
Patrick Sharp	Michal Handzus	Patrick Kane
Bryan Bickell	Dave Bolland	Andrew Shaw
Daniel Carcillo	Marcus Kruger	Michael Frolik

Defense
Duncan Keith	Niklas Hjalmarsson
Brent Seabrook	Nick Leddy
Johnny Oduya	Michal Rozsival

Goalies

Corey Crawford

Ray Emery

Henrik Karlsson

In an interview with Justin Abdelkader, Greg Kruppa brings us this quote.

"We're a group that's come a long way," Abdelkader said. "And I know there are a lot of people who doubted us in the first round and will doubt us in the second round, here.

"But we know what kind of group we have here and what can be done if we stick to the game plan."

Don't Stop Believing Hockeytown!

Let's Go Red Wings!!!