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Another member of the Detroit Red Wings’ walking wounded is about to return to action.
Center Brad Richards, out since Oct. 21 with a back ailment, is expected to suit up Friday when the Wings play host to the Los Angeles Kings at Joe Louis Arena.
“I'm ready, yeah,” Richards said. “It was good to get a practice with a line today.
“As long as Blash (coach Jeff Blashill) and the training staff and everybody is OK with that, I'm going to bed tonight hoping to play.”
Richards skated on the right wing in Thursday’s practice with Teemu Pulkkinen on the left side and Pavel Datsyuk at center, and he’s OK with returning on the wing if it means getting the chance to play alongside the dazzling Datsyuk.
“I just like playing with good hockey players,” Richards said. “If I play with Pav, that will make things easier. He's a smart player, obviously.
“I pride myself on being able to read the ice. Wing, center, I've obviously played more center. I've played some wing. You get to play with a center man like that, hopefully we can figure something out there.”
Blashill believes it will make things easier for Richards to make his return to the ice on the wing rather than by being asked to handle the massive responsibilities of a center after sitting out for 13 straight games.
“I think it’s easier in general for a center to play wing,” Blashill explained. “I don’t think it’s a real hard transition. The other way sometimes is harder, when you haven’t played center for a while and get thrown back in the middle, just from a responsibility standpoint.
Coming back after being out a little bit, we think that could help, but more importantly, we’re just trying to find line combinations where we can continue to do a good job defending but create more offense.”
Blashill expects that Richards will add another element of skill to a group that continues to struggle to consistently score goals.
“I think if you look at his history in this league, his points per game are great and he’s got a great stick, and he’s got a great offensive mind,” Blashill said.
He’s also hoping this new forward unit will help to maximize the qualities that Pulkkinen is bringing to the ice with more frequency.
“Hopefully that combination will work with him and all the things Pavel can do, and Pulkkinen has a lot of ability. But the other thing Pulkkinen is doing right now and the reason he’s there is he’s providing energy, he’s on the puck, he’s skating hard on the track, he’s doing a lot of the skating. So I think that will help those two, having a guy with that type of energy.
“He’s doing as good a job of it, him and (Dylan) Larkin, as anybody, so I want to get Pulkky more minutes that way, too.”
Smith Back
Defenseman Brendan Smith appears to be over the illness that’s slowed him and he’s also targeted to return to action Friday.
“I was just battling sickness there, so we weren’t sure for awhile and then it just kind of starting feel better now, so it’s good,” Smith said.
“I thought I could battle and then practice and it was just getting worse, so we just had to take some precaution there. It started to get a little bit worse, so I started staying off the ice, but I’m feeling a little bit better right now, so that’s good.”
Smith worked in to drills with Jakub Kindl and Alexey Marchenko during Thursday’s practice, so one of those two will likely be the odd-man out to make room for Smith.
No Socks Please
To make room for Richards on the 23-player roster, forward Andreas Athanasiou was returned to AHL Grand Rapids.
Athanasiou’s departure means for the time being, there’s no Red Wing who goes barefoot in his skates, a habit that Athanasiou indicated he developed at a young age.
“Well, actually when I was younger I would rotate,” Athanasiou said. “Sometimes I would wear socks, sometimes I wouldn’t.
“I think ever since I started juniors I’ve been going barefoot. I’m not a big fan of socks. Even in my shoes now, too. I just feel uncomfortable. I just like being in my skates without socks. It’s something I’m so used to now.”
Athanasiou’s agent Bobby Orr also went barefoot in his skates during his NHL career, but that wasn’t Athanasiou’s inspiration.
“It’s just something I felt comfortable with,” Athanasiou said. “I feel like there’s a little bit less slippage in the skate.”
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