Khan(!) has wandered off the grid again, luckily Ms. St. James is on the case...

Tomas Holmstrom left early from this morning’s optional skate at Scottrade Center, where tonight the Red Wings take on the St. Louis Blues.

Here are the lines if Holmstrom is good to go...

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Franzen-Filppula-Cleary
Bertuzzi-Miller-Williams
Draper-Helm-Maltby

If Holmstrom can't go...

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Franzen
Bertuzzi-Filppula-Cleary
Draper-Helm-Maltby
May-Miller-Williams

I actually don't know how the Maltby-May thing would work...the 3rd and 4th lines in the second stanza are a blind guess.

Defensive pairings should remain the same as last game with Kronwall out of the lineup and we already know that Jimmy is starting.

They say that a good defense is a good offense.  They also say that defense wins championships.  This pair would agree with the latter saying...

Nick Lidstrom as Superman...

The ultimate hero, compared to him, all other pale in comparison.  His abilities are too numerous to count...it almost doesn't seem fair.

Brian Rafalski as Captain America....

He will help lead Team USA into battle next week in Vancouver, and hopefully, the Red Wings into another successful post-season.

The issues will continue to roll on so long as you people stay interested.

The future is looking bright for the Detroit Red Wings.  Tomas Tatar is the brightest 18 year old starto make the pro-ranks in the organ-i-zation in quite some time, and now it looks like our collegiate athletes are doing quite well also.

According to Red Wings Central, Detroit prospects Gustav Nyquist and Brendan Smith are among the 70 preliminary nominees for this year's Hobey Baker Award.

No Detroit propsect has ever won the award (to date).

Nyquist has 14 goals and 26 assists for 40 points in 26 games. He is just two points behind Cory Conacher for the NCAA scoring lead.

Smith leads all NCAA defensemen in scoring with 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points in 26 games.

Not bad, boys.  Keep it up...and don't forget to do your homework.

From the Daily Tribune...

Draper talking about Franzen's return:

   “Certainly these past seasons and playoffs, he’s been unbelievable.  You’re talking about getting a player who’s big, strong and can dominate hockey games. That’s something, right now, we’re certainly looking forward to.”

Which is a perfect segway into this sub-issue of "Our Heroes", entitled FRANZEN SMASH!

Johan Franzen as The Hulk...

He may seem mild mannered and soft-spoken, but get him angry and you unleash a fury of power and play-off hat tricks...just ask Denver (they're still cleaning up the mess).

I was perfectly content not liking Johnny Damon.  I was never a fan of the Red Sox, and obviously liked him even less when donned the pin stripes of the Yankees.  To make matters worse, an old college roommate was absolutely obsessed with the guy.  And not just a roommate, but one of those fans who just simply roots for winners.  Oh, and he has two favorite teams for everything...college basketball he likes Kentucky and Gonzaga, in college hockey he likes Maine and U of M, and so on and so forth.

Needless to say, I rooted for whatever team was playing his favorite at the time which grew into a blind hatred of Johnny Damon.  Well...that's all over now, thanks to the Free Press:

Damon has rooted for the Red Wings for years. He started doing so because of how much he likes Yzerman.

"When he and I go to a Greek restaurant, he always orders octopus,"---Scott Boras, Damon's agent.

The agent went on about Damon's desire to come to the Motor City...

"Johnny came to me about Detroit.  He told me, 'If I can't play for the Yankees, I want you to let the Tigers know I want to play for them. I can make that team a winner.' "

Alright, Johnny...make it happen and no hard feelings, okay?  I can't hate anyone who respects Yzerman and wants to help make my city feel like a winner again.

From the Free Press today...

Defenseman Niklas Kronwall (knee) said he won’t play because he’s waiting for a better-fitting brace to arrive. Forward Tomas Holmstrom (bruised left knee) will be a game-day decision. He tried to skate at practice today but left the ice early, rode a stationary bike and worked out instead.

Forward Drew Miller, who battled a sore left ankle in Saturday’s 4-3 loss at Los Angeles, said he expects to play. Forward Patrick Eaves didn’t practice today and is doubtful against the Blues with a sprained left ankle.

Holy smokes.  It's going to be all hands on deck for this one.  Thank god we're getting Franzen back because Meech might have to be playing forward.  By the way, Tollefson cleared waivers and has been assigned to GR.

Guess who's starting in goal tomorrow?  I'll give you a hint...

"S-s-s-suck it, b!tch"

Who says that the heroes of the day have to be paid the most?  Or even produce the most on the score sheet?  Sometimes it takes a 4th Liner to get the job done....

Kirk Maltby as Banshee...

A little older than most of his teammates, his mouth his usually his most dangerous weapon.

Drew Miller as Quicksilver...

...A relative of an even greater power, and because his hair is quick to turn silver, he also has impressive speed and serviceable agility.

Jason Williams as Robin...

Many people often wonder why he's even around, but the boy wonder can come through in a pinch.

That almost raps it all up for forwards...

From Khan(!) yesterday following Saturday's meltdown to the LA Kings...

“It’s tough. I take a lot of the blame for it.  I didn’t think I had my best outing. I was very disappointed in how I played. You learn from your mistakes and now I have to rebound from it.’’--Jimmy Howard

Do you feel better about a goalie getting down on himself, or would you rather hear them say stuff like, "I felt good out there" as Ozzie tends to do following a bad game.

That Frolov goal never should have happened.  I know it, you know it, and most importantly, Jimmy knows it:

“I tried to play it before I even stopped it. Just a dumb mistake on my part.  I should have stopped it and got control of it. As I went to play it, it just went off my stick.’’

Without that goal, I guarantee you we win that game.  We'd only be 7 points behind the Kings and we'd have a play-off spot presently.  But we did lose that game, we're now 11 points behind the Kings and we're not in a play-off spot right now.

So who gets the start tomorrow in St. Louis?

And I bet you were just saying to yourself, "you know, our injury list is looking a little too slim".  Well, here you go:

Three players went down during that stink fest on Saturday.  Detroit is proving that no lead is safe until that final buzzer sounds.  Now, given the fact we could only run 3 full lines with Miller, Eaves, and Holmstrom going down from flying pucks...I suppose it's reasonable for the team to get tired towards the end of the game.

We're still only 2 points out of 8th place, and 3 points away from 7th.  And the Cali trips are done for the season.  We have one last trip to the West to face the Flames, Oilers, and Canucks in mid-March, but aside from that, most of the games will be in or near own time zone.  That's the 'okay' news.

The 'good' news is that tomorrow we'll get Franzen back.  We'll also be playing a St. Louis team that has to fly all the way out to Denver tonight and be back tomorrow to face us in their barn.

So my advice to you is to crumple up Saturday's game and throw it in the trash.  Put it out of your mind, if you can.  Hopefully those "Questionable"'s will yield a favorable answer.

Via NHL.com...

To ease the backlog, the Wings on Saturday traded left wing Ville Leino to the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefson and a fifth-round pick in the 2011 Entry Draft.

Don't know much about Tollefson other than he's been fighting injuries all season.