An Emergency That Might Not Be One

What does Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill have in common with U.S. President Donald Trump? Both declared an emergency that probably wasn’t necessary. Saturday, the Wings recalled forward Christoffer Ehn from AHL Grand Rapids on an emergency basis after it appeared that the team wouldn’t have enough skaters for Saturday’s game at Arizona against the Coyotes. Defenseman Trevor Daley (back) and forward Thomas Vanek are definitely out and as the team arrived in Arizona late Friday, it appeared that forward Anthony Mantha (flu) was also going to be unable to answer the bell. By Saturday, though, that situation had changed. “We expect Anthony to play,… Blashill told Detroitredwings.com on Saturday afternoon. Ehn will hang around, just in case Mantha takes a turn for the worse. “He’s an emergency, so if Anthony is able to play and we have enough healthy forwards, then we’ll terminate the emergency call-up and send him back,… Blashill said. “As of last night I didn’t think he was going to be able to play but he’s felt much better here over the course of the last 12 hours, so we expect him to play.… The Wings opted out of their game-day skate Saturday, so a final decision on Mantha’s status won’t be made until game time. “He may come here today and not feel great,… Blashill said. “In that case, we would keep Ehn on emergency.… Center Dylan Larkin and defenseman Mike Green, who both skipped practice Friday due to ailments, were given the green light to to suit up Saturday. “I just needed a day to recover and get ready for the upcoming games on this road trip,… Larkin said. Ehn was assigned to Grand Rapids last week in order to get him more playing time. “He’s played good,… Blashill said of Ehn. “He’s played good for sure. But again this is all about continued development. Rather than sit here, they’re two hours away. And he might be down for a long time, he might be down there for a little bit. We don’t know that. “I think he’s headed in the right direction. The one thing we’d like him to continue to get better at is his offensive game and it’s certainly easier down there to improve your offensive game than it is here. We think there’s more offense there. We just believe if he can start to produce down there it will help him.… Follow me on Twitter @asktheduffer