Detroit Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha sidelined 4-6 weeks

The Detroit Red Wings lose forward Anthony Mantha for an expected 4-6 weeks after he had successful hand surgery yesterday.

The loss of Anthony Mantha is a tremendous blow to the Detroit Red Wings lineup. The forward flew into aid fellow forward Dylan Larkin after a head hit. Larkin was skating into the offensive zone when Colorado Avalanche defenseman Patrik Nemeth buried Larks’ head into the glass with a forceful manner using his forearm.

Anthony Mantha immediately b-lined it to Nemeth, and the pair had a good old-fashioned tilt. Mantha was pounding away and apparently took his frustration out on Nemeth’s face and head but broke his hand during the exchange.

It is the second time in his career Anthony Mantha has broken his hand during a scrap. Knowing the outcome people will say, “see fighting shouldn’t be in hockey” or “Mantha shouldn’t be fighting, leave it to Witkowski.”

Here is Jeff Blashill talking about the Mantha situation in an excellent article by Helene St. James of freep.com;

"“I know this: he’d do it again. And I’m good with him doing it again. I want him to do it again. We want to make sure we are sticking up for each other. You’re not going anywhere at any time if you have a team that is selfish and does not care about each other. No chance. The best chance for us to have great success here is for us to make sure we are looking after each other at all times. Sometimes these types of things are going to happen. That’s the reality of life. “It’s just like saying, well, should you block shots? Of course you should block shots because that’s a sacrifice it takes to win. Every once in a while you’re going to get a broken bone because of it. Should you take a hit to make a play? Of course you should take a hit to make a play. Otherwise you’re never winning. Should you stick up for your teammate? Of course you should stick up for your teammates, otherwise you’re never winning. That’s just the reality of it.”"

I am on the side of the people who like and supports fighting in the game. I believe fighting does serve a purpose still in the game. Take this situation for example; Larkin gets his head hammered into the glass. Imagine if fighting was banned? These types of actions would become more and more frequent, and the player delivering the blow knows he won’t need to step up and face any repercussions on the ice.

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Anytime an injury can occur in sports. You can’t think about the chance of injuring yourself in the heat of the moment. Similar to what Jeff Blashill describes in the quote above, are players not supposed to block shots? Of course, players will continue to block shots.

Mantha’s absence is a significant loss to an offense that is already somewhat challenged to score goals at times. On this Detroit Red Wings team, Mantha is a top-6 forward. The Wings are already minus Darren Helm and now are in need of re-tooling the top line once again.

The top line is about to get a facelift once again. Gustav Nyquist has been moved up to play with Larkin and Abby. This leaves Nielsen, double-A, and Vanek as the second group over the boards. Once Bert returns to the lineup after his two-game suspension is complete, Saturday Jeff Blashill will have more of an opportunity to juggle the lines around.

It is a shame the second line of Gus, AA, Frans needed to be broken up due to the Mantha injury. That line was rolling along nicely over the last couple of weeks. Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill was required to put someone up with Larkin and decided on Gus for now.

Next. Why the Detroit Red Wings should consider moving Jimmy Howard. dark

Jeff Blashill elected for balance over the top two lines; he should consider elevating Michael Rasmussen or Tyler Bertuzzi to play with Dylan Larkin rather than the likes of Justin Abdelkader. It might create a few more scoring chances for the team while they trek on without Mantha.

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