Wrapping up home ice advantage throughout the entire playoffs before the season finale normally equals the opportunity to rest key players, but that wasn’t an option for Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock.
With an injury-depleted roster, Babcock had few options for resting the Wings’ key players before the start of the 2008 NHL playoffs. Tomas Kopecky’s torn knee in Thursday’s victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets is the latest addition to a long list of Detroit injuries this season. Kopecky will miss the entire playoffs and will have surgery to repair a torn ACL in the next few weeks. Detroit players have missed a total of 199 games this year because of injuries. Kirk Maltby (hamstring), Kris Draper (groin), Mikael Samuelsson (groin), and Brad Stuart (broken finger) all missed Sunday’s contest.
Detroit Red Wings - News: Notebook: Injuries present challenge - 04/06/2008
Injuries present challenge
Injuries present challenge 
