Babcock Pulls Datsyuk for Game 1

It’s a rematch of last year’s final with Hossa switching teams and reversing his number 18 to 81 as he joins the Red Wings in their march to a second straight Stanley Cup champagne shower, but they will have to win Game 1 without Pavel Datsyuk. After the morning skate, Datsyuk said he felt great and was ready to play, but once Mike Babcock heard the Russian talking with reporters, he pulled him aside and later released a statement that he would be “unavailable” for tonight’s game.

The Wings hope to repeat as champions just over a decade after they performed that same feat in 1997 and 1998. Datsyuk’s practice “did not look comfortable” according to reporters, most importantly, “lacked mobility”. Datsyuk suffered a foot injury on May 22nd and has been listed as day to day since. He may not play tomorrow for Game 2 either, but he will be listed a game-time decision. Jonathan Ericsson will be joining the club tonight, as well as Nick Lidstrom, but Kris Draper will sit it out to nurse his strained groin for another night.

Ruslan Fedotenko, who has come down with a mild flu, is listed as a game-time decision for tonight. The Pens would love to keep him in the lineup and continue his great chemistry with Maxime Talbot and Evgeny Malkin, but if he is not ready to play at 100% the Penguins are better off keeping him out of the lineup.

I will be liveblogging tonight’s game with Ryan MacIntyre of HockeyJackass.com. He will be taking you the way with the play by play while I chime in with the colour commentary. Hope to see you all there for a fantastic start to this year’s Finals as it truly has come down to the two best teams in the league.

Micheal Aldred
michealaldred@hotmail.com