Dan, not Pav

So.  Tomorrow.  Dan -- Yes.  Pav -- No.  Hmm...that's exactly the opposite of what I was expecting.  Whatever.  One back now is better than none back now. 

Apparently Dan still has a good deal of pain (or "soreness") in his foot.  Hope he's careful not to take any shots off of that ankle. 

I guess I'm glad that Pav is taking things slowly and allowing himself to fully heal before coming back.  We need him in a major way but when we get him back, we need him in for the long haul.

So here are the deets:

"Danny Cleary will return to the Red Wings' lineup Wednesday in Ottawa but Pavel Datsyuk won't. Datsyuk is pushing back his return from a fractured right hand to Friday.

'Still can't shoot 100 percent,' said Datsyuk, who hasn't played since Dec. 22. 'It bothers me a little bit. (I'm) just not ready.'

The Wings are host to Columbus Friday night.

'I hope the two days will help me,' Datsyuk said. 'I will do what I can and shoot for the next game.'

Cleary fractured his right ankle Dec. 26 in Minnesota. He was having one of his best starts (16 goals), and he is anxious to return.

'I'm excited to get back,' Cleary said. 'It's been five weeks and the ankle is getting better every day.'

The Red Wings recalled Jan Mursak from Grand Rapids, who'll replace Datsyuk in the lineup against the Senators."
-From The Detroit News

Time for Jan to step up again -- at least for one more game.  Let's all hope that Dan gets right back to those scoring ways which he displayed during the first half of his season.

**Secret Tidbit!**

An extra bit of goodness which I'd forgotten to mention is this: Stuey is back to skating with the team again!  He is wearing a big, dorkwad college-hockey mask so as to keep from offsetting his chin but he is practicing and that counts for something.  In his first full practice since his jaw was broken by an idiotic shoulder, Bert smashed him in the back and nearly killed him.  Amazingly, Stuey survived (contrary to what usually happens when Bert smashes someone in the back) and, while attending every practice, still has a couple of weeks to go (or so I'm told).

**End Secret Tidbit!**

I've got a feeling that we'll have to wait a little longer than one game for Pav to be game-ready.  Hopefully he'll come back with super-heightened grip strength.  GO WINGS!!!