Based on his enthusiasm alone this morning after practice, Tomas Kopecky is ready to make an impact tonight in Game 3 against the Ducks.
Kopecky gleefully talked again about how anxious he is to get back into the lineup for the first time since breaking his clavicle Dec. 14, especially considering it?ll be his NHL playoff debut.
Kopecky will start out on a line with Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby ? that?s a straightforward assignment: Forecheck hard and get the puck out of Detroit?s zone. Mike Babcock isn?t shy about changing his lines around, though, so it?s entirely possible we?ll see different combinations depending on what happens in the game.
Babcock had a lot of good things to say about Kopecky, a rangy 6-foot-3 forward, after Tuesday?s morning skate at the Honda Center.
?I like Tomas,? Babcock said. ?Tomas going forward is going to be a center ice man for us. He's going to be an effective player. He's 6'3", can shoot the puck a ton. The first time I coached him, his first year coming out of the junior, or he was still a junior, was in Cincinnati and he had a lot of skill. Took him a lot of time to improve his body and learn to compete.
?He?s a competitive kid who can score. He can bang, make plays, skate, compete. So there's always a tough decision when you put a kid in. What's he going to do? Yet I look around the league, there's a lot of kids that can make a contribution. He was out for a long time. We would have liked to get him back with four or five games in the regular season. But because of his clavicle injury, our medical people thought we were putting him at risk. So now they don't and we need more I think grit on the puck, will to want the puck, more skating from that unit, so we're asking him to provide some of that.?
Kopecky replaces Kyle Calder, who played four ineffective minutes in each of the first two games against the Ducks. I don?t think too much can be expected of Kopecky given all circumstances, but a fresh pair of legs and an enthusiastic attitude may be just the boost the Wings need, especially during five-on-five play.
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Kopecky gleefully talked again about how anxious he is to get back into the lineup for the first time since breaking his clavicle Dec. 14, especially considering it?ll be his NHL playoff debut.
Kopecky will start out on a line with Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby ? that?s a straightforward assignment: Forecheck hard and get the puck out of Detroit?s zone. Mike Babcock isn?t shy about changing his lines around, though, so it?s entirely possible we?ll see different combinations depending on what happens in the game.
Babcock had a lot of good things to say about Kopecky, a rangy 6-foot-3 forward, after Tuesday?s morning skate at the Honda Center.
?I like Tomas,? Babcock said. ?Tomas going forward is going to be a center ice man for us. He's going to be an effective player. He's 6'3", can shoot the puck a ton. The first time I coached him, his first year coming out of the junior, or he was still a junior, was in Cincinnati and he had a lot of skill. Took him a lot of time to improve his body and learn to compete.
?He?s a competitive kid who can score. He can bang, make plays, skate, compete. So there's always a tough decision when you put a kid in. What's he going to do? Yet I look around the league, there's a lot of kids that can make a contribution. He was out for a long time. We would have liked to get him back with four or five games in the regular season. But because of his clavicle injury, our medical people thought we were putting him at risk. So now they don't and we need more I think grit on the puck, will to want the puck, more skating from that unit, so we're asking him to provide some of that.?
Kopecky replaces Kyle Calder, who played four ineffective minutes in each of the first two games against the Ducks. I don?t think too much can be expected of Kopecky given all circumstances, but a fresh pair of legs and an enthusiastic attitude may be just the boost the Wings need, especially during five-on-five play.
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