Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock has decided to mix up his forward lines and defensive pairings in an apparent attempt to generate better play from a team that is not playing up to its own high standards. The mixing began yesterday in practice and carried over to today's, suggesting the possibility that the new combos may make their in-game debut Wednesday against the Calgary Flames. The most noticeable change is to the nominal top line, which has remained untouched this season except in cases of injury. Pavel Datsyuk has skated with Marian Hossa and Tomas Holmstrom (when healthy) all season, but is now centering Holmstrom and Valtteri Filppula. Filppula is frustratingly prone to underachieving, but has looked good with Datsyuk in the past.
Hossa has moved to Henrik Zetterberg's wing with Dan Cleary. The big Slovak has played with Zetterberg only very occassionally this season, but will look to duplicate the magic he and Datsyuk have produced. This change breaks up the all-Swede line of Johan Franzen, Mikael Samuelsson, and Zetterberg.
Franzen is centering his own line, with Jiri Hudler and Samuelsson taking the wings. That line could be the most dangerous "third" in the League, with all three players producing at a fair clip this season.The fourth line is basically unchanged, with Kirk Maltby and Tomas Kopecky skating on either side of Kris Draper. Derek Meech had been a part of that unit, but with Maltby apparently set to return from a one-game absence due to injury, he will be the odd man out.
On the blueline, frequent partners Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski are split up, pairing with Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall respectively. Although Chris Chelios skated yesterday after returning from his conditioning stint in Grand Rapids, he remains out as Andreas Lilja and Brett Lebda still comprise the third pairing.
Ty Conklin will start tomorrow night, having apparently earned it by strong goaltending in the team's shootout win Saturday night. This is a departure from the team's standing policy of rotating goaltenders and should act as a nice incentive for Chris Osgood to step up his play.
There's no doubt among Wings fans that the team needs to improve if they are to compete with squads like San Jose in the West. This shuffling of units may provide the necessary mix in chemistry to shake the guys out of their relative funk.
An additional incentive may be the little items they received yesterday: their Stanley Cup rings. As they weigh the diamond-encrusted chunks of what looks like white gold in their hands, they should be thinking about what it took to earn them.
