DETROIT— Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk was feeling good and in his usual playful mood Thursday.
He told reporters the arthroscopic knee surgery he underwent Tuesday to remove fragments and clean up the ligament went well and that he hopes to be back in the lineup in early March.
“I feel good, yeah, everything good, thank you,” Datsyuk said when asked about his surgery.
Datsyuk said he discovered something was wrong with his knee when he couldn't move his leg Sunday after Detroit's victory over San Jose.
“It may have bothered me a bit before, but nothing like after Sunday’s game,” he said.
Datsyuk said he would begin skating again Friday, but even he couldn’t keep a straight face afterward, saying, “Maybe not.”
He said that he’ll do off-ice work in Detroit for the time being because he checked and “there are no free tickets to Florida. I need to work out.”
Asked if the two-week timeline for his recovery was accurate, Datsyuk replied, “Yeah, I think so. Two weeks, I hope. We hope.
“It’s better to do it now (the surgery)."
Then Datsyuk disappeared into the Wings' workout area.
Without Datsyuk, the Wings will try to extend their NHL-record home winning streak to 24 games when they face Vancouver on Thursday night.
Quincey to be paired with Ericsson
Kyle Quincey was sitting in the dentist’s chair when his trade back to Detroit became official.
“I was the last to find out," Quincy said. "I was in the dentist chair and had about 50 messages when I got out of there."
Quincey paid credit to the Los Angeles Kings for taking a chance on him by claiming him off waivers from the Wings back in 2008.
“With opportunity comes confidence, and the last time I was here I didn’t have any confidence," he said. " I was just a young guy trying to sneak under the radar.”
As far as harboring any ill will towards the Red Wings for putting him on waivers, Quincey said it was awesome and the best thing that could have happened to him because it gave him a shot to prove himself at the NHL level.
“If I would have gone through waivers and gone to Grand Rapids, that would have been really frustrating," Quincy said. "If you ask a lot of guys that aren’t playing, they’d probably say they want to be waived.
“Who knows? I could still be in Grand Rapids. You never know. I am very fortunate.”
Detroit head coach Mike Babcock called Quincey a “good player” who gives the Wings depth on the blue line.
Quincey will be paired with Jonathon Ericsson on Thursday and will be used on the power play and the penalty kill.
“We’ll figure things out over time -- who he ends up with, who eventually is his partner," Babcock said. "But he and Ericsson will give us a really good pair and will start tonight together."
Bertuzzi deal official
“It’s a place where I want to stay and I want to play,” Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi said when asked about his two-year contract extension. “When Kenny (Holland) and Pat (Morris, Betruzzi’s agent) figure it out that two years was doable, it was an easy decision for me to accept.”
Bertuzzi made it clear that Detroit is his last stop in his NHL career, and the plan after the deal expires is to retire.
According to Big Bert, what has made his time in Detroit so enjoyable is, he's not the centerpiece of the team.
“I like flying under the radar here," he said. "With the amount of talent we have in the room, the emergence of Filppula and the play of Hudler, it’s an easy fit. You just go out and do your job.”
A big body is what Bertuzzi provides, and he says his job is to go in to the corners and get the puck to his talented teammates.
“He’s been a real reliable player for us defensively,” Babcock said of Bertuzzi. “He’s changed his game, so he doesn’t have to produce all the time offensively.
“We like him to be big, and he’s big every shift. He’s a good skater, and he’s a good team guy.”
Eaves future remains cloudy
Injured forward Patrick Eaves skated Thursday but said he's still suffering from headaches every day.
Eaves has missed 38 games after suffering a fractured jaw against Nashville on Nov. 26. Even though the jaw is completely healed, it appears he also suffered a concussion when he got hit by a puck in the face while trying to block a shot.
“It’s day-to-day," Eaves said. "Symptoms come and go. It’s a slow process. The way things are going, I’d love to come back, but we’ll see what happens.”
He’s been skating on his own for about a week, but Eaves is nowhere near ready to join his teammates for a full practice.
“I’m optimistic about the season," he said. "I’d love to play this year, but I’ve got to get this looked after."
