2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs Blog - Stanley Cup Final

The big news Friday on the eve of the Stanley Cup final was who was on the ice for the Detroit Red Wings as they held the final day of practice in preparation for Saturday night’s opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Almost all of Detroit’s walking wounded suited up. Defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom (lower-body injury), out the last two games of the Western Conference final, and centre Pavel Datsyuk (foot injury), absent the last three games, both skated, as did centre Kris Draper, who was out the last two games with a groin strain.

Only defenceman Jonathan Ericsson, who missed Detroit’s last game after undergoing an emergency appendectomy Wednesday afternoon, didn’t skate.

No wonder Wings coach Mike Babcock was so giddy.

“I think everybody's ready to go,” Babcock said. “Pavel's going to be the only last-minute decision. Everyone else will be ready.

“Ericsson's playing for sure. With the surgery he had, they didn't want to put him on the ice [Friday]. But he'll be ready to go [Saturday].”

That was news to Ericsson, who wasn’t nearly as certain that he could go in Game 1.

“From [Thursday] I feel a lot better,” he said.

“The last 24 hours I feel a lot better. I wasn’t too hopeful [Thursday] when I was at the rink. I felt pain right away when I started moving around. I feel a lot better and right now, I feel a lot better than I did in the morning.

“I’m pretty hopeful about [Game 1] but we’ll see. I’m going to skate in the [Saturday] morning and we’ll see how it feels.”

Nick of time

Of the four, the only definite for Game 1 appears to be six-time Norris Trophy winner Lidstrom, a huge factor in last spring’s final in shutting down Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.

“Yeah, I'll be ready to go [Saturday] night,” Lidstrom said. “I skated a little bit [Thursday], practised [Friday], and felt fine. So I'll be ready to go.”

Lidstrom worked in practice with regular defence partner Brian Rafalski, while Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall, Brett Lebda and Chris Chelios formed the other pairs.

Waiting game

Datsyuk took turns with Valtteri Filppula working in the middle of a line with Marian Hossa and Dan Cleary.

“It’s a game-time decision,” Datsyuk said of his status. “I feel more better skating [Friday]. I feel better and more confident. Hopefully, [Saturday’s] more better and we have a decision to make.”

Meanwhile, Draper alternated in the fourth unit with Ville Leino, Justin Abdelkader and Kirk Maltby. He admitted there’s still a ways to go before he’s game ready.

“I’m not quite there,” Draper said. “I’m going to get a good skate in [Saturday morning], go from there and see where we’re at.

“The one thing I said, if I’m going to play, it’s not going to be a selfish decision just because it’s the Stanley Cup final. That doesn’t do anyone any good and I’m sure that’s the mindset of the other guys as well.”

The other forward lines were Johan Franzen-Henrik Zetterberg-Jiri Hudler, and Tomas Holmstrom-Darren Helm-Mikael Samuelsson.

Chelios young at heart

If Chelios gets the call for Game 1, he’ll be the oldest player to appear in a Cup final game at the age of 47 years and 126 days.

“About three weeks ago, a month ago, there was no role for me,” Chelios said. “At this point of my career, I take it day and day and we’ll see what happens. I was three feet away from scoring the game winner the other night [in overtime of Game 5 of the Western Conference final]. That was pretty exciting and that’s what keeps you going.”

Double timers

Detroit’s Ty Conklin and Marian Hossa, both members of the Penguins last season, will become the 29th and 30th players who’ve played in successive Stanley Cup finals with different teams.

They’ll be looking to mirror Hec Kilrea, who lost the 1935 Stanley Cup final with the Toronto Maple Leafs, then beat the Leafs the next spring as a member of the Red Wings.

Hossa and Conklin are the 10th and 11th players to play in the final opposing the team that they played for during the previous year’s final.

Of the previous nine, only Kilrea and Billy Carroll (1984 New York Islanders, 1985 Edmonton Oilers) won the second final after losing the first time. They will join John MacMillian as the only players to play in back-to-back finals with different teams in successive series that pitted the same teams against each other.

MacMillian won the Cup with the 1963 Toronto Maple Leafs in a five-game decision over Detroit, and then lost the 1964 Cup final to the Leafs as a member of the Red Wings.

The complete list of Stanley Cup two-timers

• Hap Holmes 1918 Toronto (won)/1919 Seattle (no decision)
• Eddie Gerard 1921 Ottawa (won)/1922 Toronto (won)
• Frank Fredrickson 1926 Victoria (lost)/1927 Boston (lost)
• Russ Oatman 1928 Mtl. Maroons (lost)/1929 NY Rangers (lost)
• Vic Desjardins 1931 Chicago (lost)/1932 NY Rangers (lost)
• Art Somers1931 Chicago (lost)/1932 NY Rangers (lost)
• Gord Pettinger 1933 NY Rangers (won)/1934 Detroit (lost)
• Lionel Conacher 1934 Chicago (won)/1935 Mtl. Maroons (lost)
• Gus Marker 1934 Detroit (lost)/1935 Mtl. Maroons (won)
• Hec Kilrea 1935 Toronto (lost)/1936 Detroit (won)
• Doc Romnes 1938 Chicago (won)/1939 Toronto (lost)
• Murph Chamberlain 1943 Boston (lost)/1944 Montreal (won)
• Earl Seibert 1944 Chicago (lost)/1945 Detroit (lost)
• Fido Purpur 1944 Chicago (lost)/1945 Detroit (lost)
• Bert Olmstead 1958 Montreal (won)/1959 Toronto (lost)*
• Larry Regan 1958 Boston (lost)/1959 Toronto (lost)
• Al Arbour 1961 Chicago (won)/1962 Toronto (won)
• Ed Litzenberger 1961 Chicago (won)/1962 Toronto (won)
• John MacMillian 1963 Toronto (won)/1964 Detroit (lost)
• Jean-Guy Talbot 1967 Montreal (lost)/1968 St. Louis (lost)
• Jimmy Roberts 1967 Montreal (lost)/1968 St. Louis (lost)
• Billy Carroll 1984 NY Islanders (lost)/1985 Edmonton (won)
• Andy Moog 1987 Edmonton (won)/1988 Boston (lost)
• Brian Propp 1990 Boston (lost)/1991 Minnesota (lost)
• Claude Lemieux 1995 New Jersey (won)/1996 Colorado (won)
• Joe Juneau 1998 Washington (lost)/1999 Buffalo (lost)
• Chris Pronger 2006 Edmonton (lost)/2007 Anaheim (won)
• Martin Gerber 2006 Carolina (won)/2007 Ottawa (lost)