Lidstrom to have MRI on knee

Feb 19, 2008 - 8:41 PM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Detroit Red Wings All-Star defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom will undergo an MRI on his injured right knee, the team announced Tuesday.

Lidstrom will have the MRI on Wednesday morning before meeting with team physicians to discuss his status. The Red Wings do not play again until Friday, when they visit the Calgary Flames.

"The knee feels sore and a little bit swollen," Lidstrom told the Red Wings' official web site. "I'll have an MRI in the morning."

Detroit's captain, Lidstrom suffered the injury in the first period of Monday's 4-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. The Swedish blue-liner was sent into the boards after sustaining a hard check from Colorado right wing Ian Laperriere.

Lidstrom struggled to stand up and needed assistance to skate off the ice, causing speculation that he might have a head injury.

But the five-time Norris Trophy winner ended any speculation of head trauma Tuesday, claiming his chin suffered the brunt of Laperriere's hit.

"I have a pretty good mark on my chin where he hit me," Lidstrom said. "Whether he tried to or not, I don't know. But he followed through and finished with his elbow up on my chin, and that's when my head went back into the glass.

"I don't have a headache or anything."

Lidstrom, 37, is enjoying another outstanding season with the Red Wings (42-15-5), who have a league-leading 89 points and own a comfortable 20-point cushion atop the Central Division standings.

A 16-year veteran, Lidstrom has seven goals and 50 assists - tops among NHL defensemen - in 62 games this season for the Red Wings, who already are without injured blue-liners Brian Rafalski (groin) and Niklas Kronwall (shoulder).

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock told the Detroit News that Lidstrom could be sidelined up to 10 days.

"I don't know if he's out a week or 10 days," Babcock told the newspaper. "But he's got something mild on the inside of his knee. It didn't sound like anything major, and we needed to freshen him up anyway."

Babcock evidently was unhappy with the fashion in which Lidstrom was hit, claiming that Laperriere followed through intentionally aiming for his head.

"I didn't like the hit," Babcock told the Detroit News. "I thought the hit was high and the guy finished (into) his head.

"To me, the league is about protecting guys' heads. To me, a five-time Norris Trophy winner shouldn't be having to protect his head against someone."