Lidstrom Norris finalist
To no one's surprise, Nicklas Lidstrom is a finalist this season for the Norris Trophy. Lidstrom has won the award five of the last six seasons and is a strong favorite to win the award, given to the league's best defenseman, again. Calgary's Dion Phaneuf and Boston's Zdeno Chara are the other finalists. "I'm not trying to take anything away from Dion, who is a great young player, and Chara, who is a great player, but the best player on the back end, bar none, is Nicklas Lidstrom," coach Mike Babcock said. Also at Wings practice Tuesday, as the team returned to the ice after a day off Monday, Pavel Datsyuk was absent because of the flu. Babcock said Datsyuk came to practice but wasn't feeling well. The training staff sent Datsyuk home, but Babcock is confident Datsyuk will be on the ice Wednesday. Kirk Maltby (hamstring) went through an entire practice, but remains questionable for the start of round two. And even if Maltby was ready Babcock said he's inclined to keep the current line up - with rookie Darren Helm in the line up - intact. "I'm not a big change guy," Babcock said. The Wings are also confident the start of round two will be Thursday at Joe Louis Arena, with Game 2 Saturday (times undetermined). That's regardless of whether Calgary -which plays in a Game 7 Tuesday - advances to round two.
