Wings win; lose Williams to charley horse
Nov 27, 2006
The Red Wings had mixed opinions on the Niklas Hagman hit that knocked Jason Williams out of Monday’s 2-1 victory over Dallas.
Williams suffered a charley horse in his right calf when Hagman lined him up late in the second period and delivered a knee-on-knee. Williams had to be helped off the ice, gingerly testing his knee as he went to bench.
“I quickly saw a replay, but at first look, it looked like (Hagman) was coming at him and then he stuck his right leg out further than he had to,” Kris Draper said. “Talking about a lack of respect for players again and here we go. Knee-on-knee, that certainly didn’t have to happen.”
Mathieu Schneider said he didn’t see the play, but it was the talk of the locker room afterwards.
“I heard he stuck out his leg, but I didn’t see it first hand,” Schneider said. “A lot of times out there, that’s a reaction. It’s a very dangerous play. (Jason) was in an awful lot of pain in here in the room, and that’s something you never like to see.”
Mike Babcock said it didn’t look like Hagman meant harm.
“It wasn’t an intentional thing, Hagman just got his knee on his thigh,” Babcock said.
Trainer Piet Van Zant said how quickly Williams recovers depends on the location and the amount of blood; the Wings expect to know more within 24 hours.
The Wings are already without forward Johan Franzen, who is out 2-4 weeks with a sprained MCL in his left knee.
The victory broke a five-game winless streak.
“We were desperate for a win here at home,” Schneider said.
He and Draper both scored short-handed.
By HELENE ST. JAMES
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