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Weiss, Kindl in; Datsyuk closer to return

November 24, 2014, 1:15 PM ET [39 Comments]
Bob Duff
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Once again, Stephen Weiss finds himself at the start line, ready to find out if this time, his little engine could go on for any length of time.

After a weekend rehab stint with Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League in which he played back-to-back games and scored two goals, Weiss, who has missed all but one game so far this season due to lingering after-effects of sports hernia surgery that ended his 2013-14 campaign after 26 games, will suit up as the Wings face the Ottawa Senators Monday at Joe Louis Arena.

“It was nice and it was a lot of travel too,“ Weiss said of his minor-league weekend. “It was eight hours driving before the first game and a long trip back, so to be able to go through that kind of travel and hold up under those circumstances was really encouraging.”

Combined with a wrist injury in his last season with the Florida Panthers that held him to 17 games in 2012-13, Weiss has suited up for just 47 of a possible 150 games over that span.

“It’s a good opportunity for him,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “He’s going to have to grab a hold of it, obviously. He’s had a good NHL career. It’s been side tracked for two years.

“Now it’s up to him. We’re in the business of winning games and everyone’s got to command their share of the ice and get their share of the ice time. He’s going to start on a line with (Tomas) Jurco and (Darren) Helm and we’ll see what happens.”

Normally a center, Weiss will play left wing on that unit, the first time he’s ever played the wing in his career.

“I’ve been a center all my life,” Weiss said. “It’s just different (playing the wing). I don’t know how to really explain it. You’ve just got to be more aware in the D zone, a little bit different coverages.

“I’m just used to playing center and being able to move the puck both ways. On the wing, you’re more limited to one side of the ice, so it’ll be fine.”

Kindl Returns

Daniel Cleary will be scratched to make room for Weiss on the forward line and Brian Lashoff will step aside to allow Jakub Kindl to return from a four-game stint as a healthy scratch after taking up residence in Babcock’s doghouse.

The reason for Kindl’s absence was an old bugaboo with Babcock, the defenseman’s willingness to battle.

“Compete,” Babcock demanded of Kindl. “Just flat-out compete. Go back, get pucks, make plays. Compete.

“That’s all part of being a good teammate, being competitive, being ultra-competitive, being good to help your team win.”

While it’s clear that Kindl had fallen into disfavor with Babcock, the coach wanted everyone to know it’s nothing personal.

“As a coach it’s real simple,” Babcock explained. “Sometimes people think whether you like a guy gets in the way – you don’t confuse the player and the person one bit.

“You’re in the winning business, you’re about putting players in the best situation to have success and whoever can help you win that’s who you play.”

Datsyuk Closer
Center Pavel Dastyuk (groin) will miss his fourth straight game due to a continuing groin issue, but he’s confident a return to action will soon be in the cards.

“I feel much better, but I think I need more full practices with team to make sure it feels good and it does not come back every second game,” said Datsyuk, who’s been sidelined three times already this season due do this lingering groin issue.

“It’s hard for me because it’s the first time with these symptoms. After two games, I think I’m fine and I come back and it just comes right back.

“Now I am more careful and want to be more ready, more energy, more exciting.”

Defenseman Brendan Smith (infected hand) and goalie Jonas Gustavsson (separated shoulder) remain out for the Wings. Jimmy Howard will start in goal.

Quinn Memories
After he was named coach of the Canadian Olympic team for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, among the first people Babcock contacted was Pat Quinn, who’d coached Canada in the previous two Olympiads, winning gold in 2002.

“Pat Quinn, when I was Olympic coach in 2010, was of great assistance to me,” Babcock said. “A great man with just unbelievable presence. An intelligent, intelligent guy. He was great at handling the media in Toronto, maybe the last guy who was able to do that.

“He spent his whole life in the game.”

It was a life in the game that started for Quinn in the Red Wings system. He signed a C-form contract with the team and played junior hockey with their affiliates in Hamilton and Edmonton, winning a Memorial Cup with the Edmonton Oil Kings in 1962-63.

Quinn turned pro in 1964 and spent two seasons in Detroit’s minor-league system before being claimed in the 1966 NHL Intra-League draft by the Montreal Canadiens.

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