Injured Zetterberg wants to play Wednesday
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STOCKHOLM, Sweden --How Red Wings center Henrik Zetterberg's cranky groin responds when he wakes up Tuesday morning will be a telltale sign as to how ready the Swedish star is to play in Wednesday's final preseason game in Karlstad.
Zetterberg has not appeared in any of Detroit's eight preseason games, but he sounded optimistic following Monday afternoon's spirited 45-minute practice that was intended to get some of the jet lag out of the Red Wings' legs following their overnight flight.
Since Zetterberg wants so badly to play against Farjestads BK, the local Swedish Elite League team, you get the feeling that if he's even remotely OK he will give the thumbs up to coach Mike Babcock.
"This is the best I've felt since it happened, so it's positive," said Zetterberg, who tweaked his groin prior to training camp and has been fighting the nagging injury ever since. "As always, we'll see how it reacts to this and go for more tomorrow. I think this is pretty much the best I could do after a red-eye flight from Detroit."
Zetterberg's linemate, Dan Cleary, didn't see any kinks in Zetterberg's game, saying the sensational Swede "looked better than normal, which is amazing."
"He hasn't been on the ice in I don't know how long and then for him to look better than normal?" Cleary continued. "Only a few players can be pulling stuff like that."
Zetterberg, though, might have to pull off a minor miracle to get up to speed before Friday night's season opener against St. Louis at the Ericsson Globe. As Babcock noted, missing preseason games sets back even the great ones like Zetterberg
Zetterberg has not appeared in any of Detroit's eight preseason games, but he sounded optimistic following Monday afternoon's spirited 45-minute practice that was intended to get some of the jet lag out of the Red Wings' legs following their overnight flight.
Since Zetterberg wants so badly to play against Farjestads BK, the local Swedish Elite League team, you get the feeling that if he's even remotely OK he will give the thumbs up to coach Mike Babcock.
"This is the best I've felt since it happened, so it's positive," said Zetterberg, who tweaked his groin prior to training camp and has been fighting the nagging injury ever since. "As always, we'll see how it reacts to this and go for more tomorrow. I think this is pretty much the best I could do after a red-eye flight from Detroit."
Zetterberg's linemate, Dan Cleary, didn't see any kinks in Zetterberg's game, saying the sensational Swede "looked better than normal, which is amazing."
"He hasn't been on the ice in I don't know how long and then for him to look better than normal?" Cleary continued. "Only a few players can be pulling stuff like that."
Zetterberg, though, might have to pull off a minor miracle to get up to speed before Friday night's season opener against St. Louis at the Ericsson Globe. As Babcock noted, missing preseason games sets back even the great ones like Zetterberg
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