The Detroit Free Press' Helene St. James reports that Tomas Holmstrom will miss at least a week of playing time due to soreness in his back. According to the MRI he underwent yesterday, the pain is apparently brought on by some kind of inflammation, but the team isn't being more specific. Holmstrom suffered the injury a week ago against the Edmonton Oilers when a player fell on him during play. He has since missed two games and will miss at least four more if he really does sit another week. In his absence, Tomas Kopecky may remain on the top line with Pavel Datsyuk and fellow Slovak Marian Hossa.
With Dan Cleary (eye infection) and Holmstrom both out, the Wings are short a forward. As a result, smooth-skating defenseman Derek Meech will move up to round out the corps, at least until Cleary is able to get back into shape after staying off the ice until his eye infection healed. The team is too close to the salary cap to call up a real forward from Grand Rapids.
Holmstrom has scored 7 goals this season and has been responsible for perhaps twice that due to screens thrown in front of opposition goaltenders. To the relief of Wings fans everywhere, his rate of goals called back due to goaltender interference is well down from last season. He has fine-tuned his positioning to about 3 inches further out from the crease. When not in front of the net, Holmstrom has provided a nice complement to the skilled games of Hossa and Datsyuk, and helped the line become one of the best in the League. His absence is no small thing for the Wings, but it does allow others to shine, especially on the power play.
Update (4:25 PM): Helene St. James now reports that Tomas Holmstrom will miss at least two weeks as he has been told to take it easy for the next week or so. If he is feeling good after that, he will take some time to return to a game-ready level of conditioning.
The news on the Holmstrom front comes in conjunction with news that Valtteri Filppula may miss tonight's game with a flu. That would really shorten the Wings' bench as they are already using the only available skater, Derek Meech, to cover for Holmstrom. - Matt Saler
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