Williams showing improvement
Nov 28, 2006
Don’t yet rule out Jason Williams playing Friday night when the Red Wings are at Minnesota.
Williams left Monday’s 2-1 victory over Dallas in the second period after suffering a charley horse when he was hit by Niklas Hagman. After the game Wings teammates said Williams was in a lot of pain; but general manager Ken Holland had good news when I spoke to him Tuesday afternoon.
“Williams felt pretty good today, much better than we or he thought he would,” Holland said. “He’s come along way since the way he felt last night.”
The Wings are hoping Williams will continue to improve over the next 72 hours, which is why there won’t be any call-ups announced in the coming days.
Holland is headed to Grand Rapids Wednesday to watch the Griffins, in case the Wings end up having to call somebody up. While there’s been a lot of talk about needing an enforcer (read below for Mathieu Schneider’s explanation regarding nuclear proliferation), I don’t necessarily think it’ll be Darryl Bootland or Brad Norton who’ll get the tap. Norton’s been injured and might not be ready for the weekend, and Bootland has been in and out of the lineup.
I’d guess Holland is going to take a look at Josh Langfeld. He’s a big body, he’s played in the NHL before, and he can produce points.
On the subject of enforcers, after Monday’s game Schneider was asked if the Wings need an enforcer. His answer could have come from Kim Jong-il.
“Well, it’s hard to say,” Schneider said. “We’ve had success really without one in the past, but they’re kind of like nuclear weapons – if the other team has one, you want to have one. If they have two, you want two.”
By Helene St. James
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