The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed an afternoon article which further the narrative begun by the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton and the Free Press’s Helene St. James regarding Marco Kasper’s emergency recall ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s game vs. Nashville:
“He was the one that earned it most, the one that made most sense from (training camp),” Lalonde said. “He was a step ahead of some of the other guys down there and played two real good games (for Grand Rapids). It just makes sense right now.”
Andrew Copp (ill) and Tyler Motte (upper-body injury) both missed practice Friday. Lalonde is confident Copp will be ready for Saturday’s game in Nashville (2 p.m./BSD/97.1). Motte is being re-evaluated, said Lalonde.
“It’s a significant role, we see him (Kasper) in our top-nine (forwards), both special teams,” Lalonde said. “He’s a person that can help us. On the cut-down day (to the regular season), we only took 12 forwards and, in reality, we could have easily, if we had the roster space of 14 or 15 forwards, we had in our vision that he could help us early on.”
Kasper centered a line with Michael Rasmussen and Jonatan Berggren during Friday’s practice. Kasper was eating breakfast Friday in Grand Rapids when he was told about driving to Detroit and joining the Wings.
“I packed up and grabbed my bag and just got here,” said Kasper, who had already played one NHL game, two seasons ago. “It’s real fun, for sure, to get going and get in here for practice. We were preparing for a game tonight (in Grand Rapids), so I was just getting ready for that. They called and it’s good to come here. I’m just really excited to get the call and get to play here and I’m looking forward to it and just doing my best.”
Take this for what you will:
Saturday’s game in Nashville is a crucial early-season game for both teams. The Wings are 1-3-0 and Nashville 0-4-0, heading into a game where both teams need a victory to end a season-opening slide.
“I’m sure they are desperate, but we’re desperate too,” Lalonde said. “This does not feel good. It’s frustrating we are where we are with our results. It’s two teams that will be playing a desperate, important game early on.”
