The Detroit Red Wings will do without Niklas Kronwall for a couple of weeks and perhaps as much as a month after the veteran defenseman underwent knee surgery Tuesday.
“Nik had surgery done this morning, had his knee scoped,… Detroit coach Jeff Blashill confirmed. “It’s something that’s been planned for a little bit here. He’s had some lingering pain issues. He’ll be out two-to-four weeks. That’s what we estimate. We utilized the All-Star break in that time period to try to minimize the games that he missed.…
The worry was that if they didn’t address it now, the situation could grow worse and Kronwall might be lost for the season.
“He had this similar type scope done a number of years ago,… said Blashill, who then listed the reasons why now was the right time for Kronwall to go under the knife.
“One, to relieve some of the pain and two, probably more importantly, we wanted to make sure it wasn’t something that three weeks from now would creep up and be a bigger deal.
“We wanted to get it done while we had the All-Star break to utilize. It’s been going on most of the year. We talked about it. We, being myself, Nik, (GM) Ken (Holland), (athletic therapist) Piet (Van Zant), the medical staff. We’ve talked about what the best approach is.
“We’ve got 8-9 days at the All-Star break and rather than risk it happening and being a four-week or longer surgery because we let it slide, let’s take care of it now and miss as minimal games as we can.…
Of his own admission, Kronwall has struggled to find consistency this season but Blashill didn’t feel the knee pain was a factor is Kronwall’s up and down performance.
“Honestly, I think Kronner has played great here in the last little bit,… Blashill said. “The timing that way is unfortunate.
“I’ve been real happy with Kronner’s play as of late.…
Marchenko In The bad news for Kronwall was good news for Alexey Marchenko, who will draw back into the Detroit lineup for Wednesday’s game at Joe Louis Arena against the St. Louis Blues.
“I know that I’m going to play this Wednesday,… said Marchenko, who tried to pretend that he’d been able to learn by watching the past three games from the press box, but didn’t sound convinced.
“Maybe sometimes it’s good to see the game from the side to see how it goes,… Marchenko said. “Anyway it’s better to play.
“The team was doing pretty good. Last game we were playing better than other team, but had a little bit of bad luck in the shootout.…
Marchenko didn’t offer any emotional response to his thoughts on being the guy who was scratched when Kyle Quincey returned from ankle surgery.
“It’s up to the coaches,… Marchenko said of the lineup. “I can’t decide on it. I can only decide on the ice what I do.
“If they decided I’m out, I can’t change it. I play the game.…
Marchenko missed the morning skate prior to Sunday’s game against Philadelphia, but no one wanted to address the reason for his absence.
“That was an internal thing,… said Blashill, who was quick to add that Marchenko’s play had no impact on his removal from the lineup.
“I think everybody knows he’s played real well when he’s been in. His job, as I talked about when he came out, his job isn’t to disagree or agree with my decisions, his job is to make sure he’s ready to play when he comes back in.
“I expect Marchy to be really good tomorrow.…
It didn’t seem to matter to Marchenko that Blashill insisted his removal from the lineup wasn’t performance based.
“But still if you’re out of the lineup you’re not like good enough,… Marchenko said. “If you play like great you give them no chance to take you out, so I have to improve my game more.
“Now I’m going to play so I have to be good again.…
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