Quick Hits: The Hello & Goodbye Edition
In Red Wings Land
Notes: Athanasiou ready to return but Zadina now out | DetroitRedWings.com
It’s a classic good news, bad news situation for the Red Wings. It also seems like they can’t seem to catch much of a break lately with injuries (or really anything these days).
The bad news: say goodbye to Filip Zadina for awhile. He’s going to miss the next two to three weeks with a lower-body injury.
”It’s unfortunate,” Blashill said. “It’s unfortunate for him, unfortunate for us. It’s kind of the way the year’s gone a bit and that’s life sometimes but it is unfortunate. I thought he was gaining confidence, I thought hew was really starting to play well. He was making plays at the right times, he was living another day at the right times, getting real good opportunities with Larks and on that power-play unit. It’s unfortunate but there’s not a thing we can do about it except try to get him back ready to roll and hopefully get him going at a high level when he gets back.”
The good news: say hello to Andreas Athanasiou. He’s expected to return tonight against the Flyers. Plus, the Wings got another face back on the ice.
Mantha wore the orange, no-contact jersey during practice.
”We have 7-10 days with no contact,” Mantha said. “If everything goes well, then hopefully I could start practicing with contact, and from there we’ll see how long it will take for me to be in game shape.”
I look forward to the day we get to watch the Wings dress a healthy lineup with the likes of Anthony Mantha, Athanasiou, Zadina, Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Robby Fabbri all getting the chance to play together.
Around the League
Three Big Questions: What is the best rivalry in the NHL today? | Sportsnet
The Red Wings vs injuries.