I suppose the logical place to start is by updating on the status of Laraque and Kronwall. Laraque is facing a disciplinary hearing tomorrow for his knee-on-knee hit on Kronwall (video below). Kronwall was initially diagnosed as out for two to four weeks with an MCL sprain, but is now out for "at least a month." It seems like Detroit does this every year, where a player's injury status gradually gets longer and longer until they miss two or three months. Hopefully I'm just wrong here, and hopefully Laraque gets a lengthy suspension based on the precedence set by the NHL of not suspending star players but consistently making examples out of goons. Refer to Down Goes Brown's handy suspension chart to figure out how many games Laraque will get.

Lame.

It appears Detroit isn't going to call anyone up either, so it could be Meech/Lebda for a month. With Williams out, it really hurts the powerplay and it showed in that game. I called Kronwall out earlier this year, but he's been very strong of late, was playing with a lot of confidence on the powerplay. When he went down, Detroit finally put the 100 mph+ shooting Jonathan Ericsson on the point, and he looked okay. But Detroit ran out of fresh guys on their nearly 20 minute powerplay in the first period. Abdelkader, Eaves, and Draper all got powerplay time. Stuart, who probably played his best game of the season and led the team with ten shots, looked very good on the point even when he had to hold onto the puck. But it seemed like by the end of the period, the Wings top two units were really worn out. Every player was passing up shots they should have taken.

Jimmy Howard's been looking really good lately, sadly I think Osgood getting sick was the best possible thing to happen to him. He got a ton of starts all in a short amount of time and he seems to be much more comfortable in net. If he was getting a start every two weeks, he'd probably still be fighting the puck. More than he already does, anyway. Anyone else still wish we got rid of him after his third start? I don't mean to gloat about being right, because I fully expect Howard will have another handful of terrible outings. I just hope people realize now that patience is required when dealing with a rookie goaltender. But I think Howard getting this chunk of starts will really reduce the amount of shaky outings he'll have. He's got some wins now, probably feels like he belongs in the league. That's big for a goalie.

Lastly, I've had it with Todd Bertuzzi. Not his play, but the whining about him. He makes stupid plays, I agree. If you expected early 2000s Vancouver Bertuzzi, you were severely misled. But he plays fine for a few games, and then makes one stupid play -- like that bad powerplay giveaway -- and all of a sudden he's "useless." Yawn. Seriously? I wasn't aware that players who play a sound two-way game and generate a handful of scoring chances every game are "useless." He's never been a two-way player and his commitment to that side of the puck really reflects on his commitment to this team.

Let me ask, does anyone who doesn't have a personal problem with Todd Bertuzzi find him useless? I'm frustrated he's not scoring, but I can live with the extra three to five chances per game. I expected more points from him, but I also expected he would be a defensive liability. That hasn't been the case, at all. I think he's right on the edge of putting up the kind of points I expected from him, too. It's only been a month and a half. He's been improving. He's not going to regain his old scoring touch, ever, so yes, he will flub glorious chances from time to time. But I find it a little funny that with a team that lost second line to free agency and then another second line to injury, that people are complaining about the guy generating the most chances on the team behind Datsyuk and Zetterberg. Spoiled much?

If his name wasn't Todd Bertuzzi, this wouldn't be an issue. A player at $1.5 million who plays at both ends of the ice? Sign me up. I think it's time to stop living in the past and open your eyes to a guy that's playing pretty solid hockey. Or you could look at that one turnover and act like it's the end of the world. Because when you look at Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Malkin, and Ovechkin, you never, ever see them turn the puck over when trying to make a play with the puck. Your call.

That said, I think there is a problem within the top two lines. Both lines. And I think it's obvious, and I'm a little shocked a switch hasn't been made yet, since the team has struggled scoring since the Columbus and Anaheim games. I don't know if Datsyuk has the ability to play with both Holmstrom and Bertuzzi. I'm defending Bertuzzi, but he's not a playmaker. I don't like to two of them together, because Bertuzzi should be doing less spins along the boards and more play in front of the net. Meanwhile, Zetterberg and Cleary are red hot, but Leino isn't getting any points. He's been better than at the beginning of the season, and gets chances, but isn't scoring (yet no one drops the "useless" card on him). So why not try a little of this:

Ville Leino | Pavel Datsyuk | Todd Bertuzzi
Dan Cleary | Henrik Zetterberg | Tomas Holmstrom

Thoughts? Leino's flashy, he and Datsyuk could do some damage. Bertuzzi can make plays, but he probably should be playing more around the net. Meanwhile, after a hot start Holmstrom's cooled down, and he's had success in the past with Zetterberg. I'm much more worried about getting Leino going because I had him as the team's top prospect before the season, and a Calder hopeful. I think, given the recent lull in offense, this would be a worthwhile move. Leino's last chance to stick on the top two lines before the likes of Filppula and Williams come back. Any thoughts on that?

Wings are in action again Monday against Nashville. Game is on Versus, and Darren McCarty will make his debut as a Versus analyst. Should be fun to watch, but hopefully the game will be a little less stressful than last night's.