Detroit coach Mike Babcock said that his use of Jiri Hudler in the first round was dictated by the game's venue. At home, he used Hudler, knowing that he could avoid playing the young Czech against Calgary's Jarome Iginla.
"At home against Calgary with last change, I could control the matchup all the time," said Babcock. "Iginla played on four different lines. He played with everybody. I wasn't as comfortable having Huds matched up against him. So, I thought Calder was a bigger body on the road and it just made it easier for us to play four lines like we wanted to play all series, knowing you'd feel comfortable no matter who Fil (Valtteri Filppula), Huds and Sammy (Mikael Samuelsson) are on the ice against."