Pre-game San Jose
The Sharks will be without captain Rob Blake tonight. He sustained an upper body injury in Columbus Wednesday and was put on the injured list.
The Wings' defense will have two it's top six players back. Jonathan Ericsson and Brian Rafalski will skate after missing the game Tuesday with the flu. Brad May and Derek Meech are the Wings scratches.
Mike Babcock talked about Team Canada a bit after the morning skate. He,Ken Holland, Steve Yzerman, Kevin Lowe and Doug Armstrong -- pretty much the selection committee -- met Wednesday night for the first time since the Canadian Olympic camp to evaluate the roster and streamline the scouting.
"We talked about the 46 players we invited to camp and the guys who are the flavor of the week -- the guys playing well right now -- and, I don't know if we crossed people off the list, but we prioritized a group that we are going to continue to watch."
Babcock, the coach of Team Canada, said it would be hard but not impossible for somebody not on the original 46-man tryout roster to make the team.
"I don't know if there's anybody that has a legitimate shot that wasn't among the original group," he said. "It's great to say a guy is playing good, but then ask yourself, who's job is he taking? The other guys aren't giving those jobs away."
I don't know how much hockey fans around here care about Team Canada, but I am telling you, north of border there is no bigger news. Everywhere we went in Canada, Yzerman and Babcock were swarmed by the media, asking about Team Canada. It's like the regular NHL season is just a showcase for players hoping to make Team Canada. Yzerman was on TV up there more than President Obama is here. I can't even imagine the reaction if somehow Canada gets knocked out of the tournament early.
Talked to Andreas Lilja after the skate, too. He's feeling a lot better since seeing a specialist in Vancouver. The headaches have lessened, he's practicing harder and for the first time he sees a light at the end of the tunnel. He still won't put a timetable on his return, but you can tell he's getting closer. There will be a more detailed story in the paper tomorrow and at detnews.com later tonight.
