Red Wings' Filppula, Chelios eye return

May 6, 2008 - 12:35 AM DETROIT (Ticker) - The Detroit Red Wings are getting healthy at just the right time.

Center Valtteri Filppula and defenseman Chris Chelios are expected to suit up Thursday when the top-seeded Red Wings host the fifth-seeded Dallas Stars in Game One of the Western Conference finals.

Filppula aggravated a leg injury in Detroit's series-clinching 8-2 victory over the sixth-seeded Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

"It happened in (Thursday's) game, third period," Filppula told the Detroit Free Press on Monday. "My leg twisted a little bit, but I feel a lot better today."

The Finn, who has two goals and three assists in 10 postseason games, recorded 19 tallies and 36 points in the regular season.

Chelios was a late scratch for Thursday's game due to a leg injury, but the 46-year-old told the newspaper that he expects to play Thursday.

A second-round pick in 1981, Chelios helped the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup championship in 1986. He also won the first of his three Norris Trophies with Montreal in 1989 before being traded to his native Chicago in June 1990.

With the Blackhawks, Chelios captured two more Norris Trophies (1993, 1996). He was dealt to Detroit in March 1999 and has spent the last 8 1/2 seasons with the Red Wings, helping the club to a Stanley Cup title in 2002.

An 11-time All-Star and four-time U.S. Olympian, Chelios has registered 185 goals, 763 assists and 2,873 penalty minutes in 1,616 career regular-season games with the Canadiens, Blackhawks and Red Wings.