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Monday's practice
For you Leino fans out there (and I know the Tonight Show has a ton), here's a morsel of hope ... Ville practices with the main team, not the Griffin call-ups. He's on the ice now, wearing the top-six forward red jersey, working in on drills. He's not practicing as one of the 12 forwards who dress, but obviously separating Leino from Downey, McCarty, Kindl, Kolosov means something. Babcock wants Leino absolutely ready in case he decides to put him in the lineup and sees that as a greater possibility than calling in one of the other Griffins.
Here are the lines they're working out of ...
Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Hossa
Franzen-Zetterberg-Cleary
Hudler-Filppula-Samuelsson
Draper-Helm-Abdelkader
Maltby
Leino
Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Ericsson-Lebda
Lilja
Meech
Chelios
Osgood
Conklin
Howard
Lilja is practicing and taking part in all drills, but he still needs medical clearance before returning from his concussion.
Plenty of players were banged up in Game 1 - Hudler (Compbell hit), Stuart (Ladd shot) and Hossa (Ladd hit) were the most obvious - but none are absent.
Here are the lines they're working out of ...
Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Hossa
Franzen-Zetterberg-Cleary
Hudler-Filppula-Samuelsson
Draper-Helm-Abdelkader
Maltby
Leino
Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Ericsson-Lebda
Lilja
Meech
Chelios
Osgood
Conklin
Howard
Lilja is practicing and taking part in all drills, but he still needs medical clearance before returning from his concussion.
Plenty of players were banged up in Game 1 - Hudler (Compbell hit), Stuart (Ladd shot) and Hossa (Ladd hit) were the most obvious - but none are absent.
posted by Chuck Pleiness at
12:21 PM
9 Comments:
Who would you sub Leino in for at this point as he doesn't seem like an excellent fit on a shut-down/grind line? Or is this just getting him more ready in case someone like Hudler or Hossa is too hurt to go in Game 2?
Bruce,
Do you think that maybe Leino could play over Abbadabado?
Also, do you think they'd play Lilja once healthy? Who'd he replace? Lebda? Big E?
Moore
It's not really a move. I think that Leino is the next guy in line and he's being prepped. He's not getting in the next game unless something changes.
I don't think Lilja will be back in the playoffs, but that's just a guess. It's a matter of waiting until his head is fine (sorry for the wide open straight line) and who knows when that will happen.
I would further specify that Leino is being put in positon to step in if a top six guy gets hurt or if an opponent finds a weakness and starts exploiting a specific forward until that opponent is defeated. Babcock already did it once with a player, replaced him til the end of that series, and then reset everyone right back where they were before.
You may notice, the lines are the lines we started the playoffs with today, not the lines we finished columbus or anahiem with.
I figure if you wanted Leino in the lineup, you could put him out with Filppula and Samuelsson and put Cleary on the checking line with Helm and Draper.
was Chelios practicing today?
Cleary is too important to put on a line with Draper and Helm. He's playing great with Z and Franzen.
Forgot Cheli. Thanks for the catch.
He's going to be what, 74 soon? He needs a day of rest.
By the way, I am not sure why, but I am working with Al MacCormack on my skating, and he calls me Chris a lot or calls he Cheli. It can't be cuz i am old, i am one of the younger guys he is working with right now.
I said "I scouted your team, and we scored on all six weak spots" once. I also shot pucks at his skates when he was warming up. Maybe that's why? Or maybe (as you are learning on your blog) because i never stop chirping. Kip Brennan recently commented on this notion as "chirp chirp chirp, if you turtle i'll kick you." What is it that makes Cheli "that guy". Why has my goalie (a big hextall fan) not taken a swing at me if that is the case?
Ok, and back to topic... where was Cheli?
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