The Red Wings announced earlier today that Chris Conner has been recalled by the parent club from the Grand Rapids Griffins. It’s unclear if he’s going to be inserted into the lineup right away, or if he’s been recalled due to precaution. Todd Bertuzzi and Dan Cleary are both battling injuries and Mike Babcock has made it clear that he’s not terribly thrilled with the lower six of the lineup.
The Livonia native joins Gustav Nyquist, Ty Conklin, and Riley Sheahan as players who have been called up from the Griffins in the last few weeks. Nyquist seems to be entrenched in the playoff lineup (GOOD) and Conklin has taken over backup duties for an injured Joey MacDonald.
Conner was a guest on a recent episode of TP:60 and has split time between the Wings and Griffs this year. He’s been on the NHL roster for 17 games (including 9 games on short-time injured reserve). In the 8 NHL games he’s played, he has a goal and two assists. In 57 AHL games, he has 16 goals and 37 assists.
The Griffins season may be coming to an end pretty soon. They’re currently in 13th place in the Western Conference — but find themselves only six points out of a playoff spot. With four games remaining in the AHL season, it’s unlikely they’ll make the playoffs and the Detroit Red Wings will receive plenty of Blace Ace reinforcements.
Fun fact: 33 different players have been rostered by the Detroit Red Wings this season. 34 if you count Chris Minard who began the season on long-term injured reserve.
Game 1 of the playoffs is on Wednesday. Dan Cleary is expected to play (after missing the final two regular season games), but Darren Helm isn’t expected back until the second game at the earliest. The lineup for Game 1 is expected to be something similar to this:
Nyquist :: Datsyuk :: Franzen
Filppula :: Zetterberg :: Hudler
Bertuzzi :: Abdelkader :: Cleary (Conner may replace Cleary or Bertuzzi, if they’re ailing)
Holmstrom :: Emmerton :: Miller
Lidstrom :: Ericsson
Stuart :: Kronwall
White :: Quincey
Howard
Conklin
EXPECTED SCRATCHES: Darren Helm (knee), Patrick Eaves (concussion), Joey MacDonald (back), Jakub Kindl (healthy), Jan Mursak (healthy), Riley Sheahan (healthy).
Photo Credit: David Guralnick, The Detroit News
One thing that can do Detroit in is a hard forecheck–we keep cycling the puck back when we’re under pressure, and a hard forecheck can cause turnovers in the defensive zone. Nashville knows this. We need guys like Helm and Conner to chip, chase, and forecheck hard and eat up minutes behind their goal line to counter this.
I would rather see Conner in the lineup than a 50% Cleary. I would like to see the speed and the energy that he brings. I think Cleary is a liability at this point. He is welcome to prove me wrong (please!).
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