Detroit The race for the playoffs begins now for the Red Wings. <\/p>\n
And theyll be short a player, or a few. <\/p>\n
When the Red Wings reconvene today for their first post-Olympics practice, theyll do so without their Swedish players, who will be resting after playing in the gold medal game Sunday. <\/p>\n
More importantly, the Red Wings will be without their captain, Henrik Zetterberg, who had back surgery last week. <\/p>\n
Zetterberg likely will miss the remainder of the regular season, but could return in the playoffs if the Red Wings are in the playoffs. <\/p>\n
Its going to be hard, Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar said. We knew it was going to be hard even with Z here, and now its going to be harder. <\/p>\n
As much as Zetterbergs offense will be missed, his leadership and character will be difficult to replace. <\/p>\n
His leadership in the locker room, in my opinion, will be an important loss, assistant Bill Peters said. Its a substantial loss, lets not kid ourselves. Its your captain, your leading scorer, a point-a-game player. <\/p>\n
But now well get our heads wrapped around it and move on and find a way to play where we can be successful as a group. <\/p>\n
With 24 games remaining, the Red Wings have a one-point lead on the Blue Jackets, Senators and Capitals, with the Hurricanes and Devils three back. <\/p>\n
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Link:<\/p>\n
Loss of Henrik Zetterberg throws another hurdle in front of Red Wings<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Detroit The race for the playoffs begins now for the Red Wings. Continue reading