No matter what day it is, who's hurt, what the weather is like ... the Red Wings come in with 12 forwards at practice. Today for example, Tomas Holmstrom is back skating on Pavel Datsyuk's line after missing a couple of weeks with back spasms. But now Kirk Maltby isn't on the ice, so the Wings are working with a dozen forwards once again. Derek Meech must be living right.

Maltby was banged up in last night's win over Vancouver. The most noticable incident came four minutes into the second period when he blocked a shot by Alexander Edler and hobbled off the ice after completing his shift. My guess is that's why Maltby isn't on the ice today.

If you're still curious after that lengthy preamble, here are the lines they're working with this afternoon, prepping for Saturday's game against Chicago ...

Homstrom-Datsyuk-Hossa
Franzen-Zetterberg-Samuelsson
Hudler-Filppula-Cleary
Meech-Draper-Kopecky

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Lebda-Lilja

Osgood
Conklin

With Holmstrom back, Cleary is back down on the third line, which in turn bumps Kopecky down to the fourth line.

Darren McCarty is still off the ice because of back spasms. Chris Chelios is in Grand Rapids on a weekend conditioning stint.