Notes: Wings, Leafs thrilled to see Red Kelly's No. 4 retired

DETROIT -- It will be a truly special night at Little Caesars Arena and not just because the Red Wings are playing their Original Six rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Before the game starts, the Wings are retiring the No. 4 jersey of Red Kelly, the Hall of Fame player who starred for both the Wings and Leafs, winning the Stanley Cup four times with each team.

Wings coach Jeff Blashill said he will talk to the team about Kelly during their pre-game meeting.
"Just make sure that we embrace what a moment tonight is," Blashill said. "It obviously doesn't happen here very often, which I think is awesome. I think the selectiveness makes each number that goes up that much more special and I think to give a real understanding of Red's accomplishments, which are unbelievable. And us playing Toronto makes it a great, great night."
At age 22, center Dylan Larkin is of course far too young to remember Kelly but he is well aware of his accomplishments.
"Obviously, a legend that's played for the Red Wings," Larkin said. "I got a chance to meet him a couple of summers ago here in Detroit. Just a gentleman, a classy guy. It will be very cool to see his jersey go up in the rafters with the legends that are already up there."

In 1954, Kelly won the first Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman. After joining the Leafs in 1960, Kelly switched to center.
Winning Cups at both positions is something that is difficult to imagine.
"That'd be tough," Larkin said. "It'd be tough. It was tough enough from the wing to center, so I can't imagine going back to D. It's impressive. It speaks to the game, where it used to be and the players that used to play were probably some of the smartest players to play the game. Their hockey sense was off the charts. That's what I read from that."
Former Red Wings coach and current Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock is pleased that Toronto is in town for the ceremony.
"It's special," Babcock said. "I remember lobbying Jimmy D (Devellano) when I was here. I thought that it would be a heck of an idea. I was college teammates (at McGill) and good friends with his son, Red Dog, so that's probably why I was doing some of the lobbying. But anybody who's won four Cups as a center, four Cups as a D, eight Cups in general and been a great citizen should be honored and it will be a special night."
When the Wings walk into their dressing room, there are many photos of Hockeytown legends, which is something else Blashill wants his players to recognize.
"Every franchise in the NHL has history. Very few have the history of success that the Detroit Red Wings have, and for that matter, the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs," Blashill said. "That's something I've talked to our team a lot about. It's something that I think you want to embrace games like this because of that. It's just a good reminder for guys of what it means to be a Red Wing. I would say the group in here has obviously much more knowledge of the recent history. We're starting to lose some of those guys, but we certainly know the recent history better. I think to reach back into the 50s and understand what in greater context made this such a great organization I think is an awesome thing for all of us."

CHOLOWSKI READY TO RETURN: Except for a couple games earlier this season when was injured, rookie defenseman Dennis Cholowski played in every game until Jan. 20.
That was when Blashill put rookie Filip Hronek back in the lineup and Cholowski sat as a healthy scratch.
"I think you can learn a lot actually, sitting and watching a few games," Cholowski said. "That was basically what they wanted me to do. Played every game so far and haven't really had a chance to sit back and watch a few games and learn what I can do in different areas. Really just that. Recently some goals have been going in against me lately. Just being able to go up there and watch the guys and see what they do in certain situations, I think it was good for me."
Cholowski sat two games before the All-Star break and saw things from a different vantage point.
"Really just watching different situations, like where you have time, where you don't have as much time, why did a guy do this, why did a guy do that," he said. "Really just getting a bird's-eye view. You're up pretty high, you can see the whole ice, you can see every play develop before it happens. It was good for me to just go up there. Now that I'm back in, make sure they don't rest me again."
The unfortunate part was the Jan. 20 game was in Cholowski's hometown of Vancouver.
"It did suck, obviously," Cholowski said about missing the game against the Canucks. "It sucks every time that happens. Just have to learn from it, I guess, and keep going."
On Thursday, Blashill said while Cholowski's poise and calm are wonderful, he needs to be able to recognize danger when it's imminent.
"Just being able to sense when maybe the puck is going to be turned over and being able to get back and knowing the right time to jump in the rush, knowing you can create a play," Cholowski said. "It is a fine line and I'm continuing to learn that."
Blashill said assistant coach Dan Bylsma has compared Cholowski to Kris Letang, Pittsburgh's All-Star offensive defenseman.
"He's one of the best defensemen in the league, has been for numerous years and he's super poised, great on the offensive end but he's also got a bit of a chip on his shoulder and a mean streak on the defensive end," Cholowski said. "If I can be remotely like that, that's kind of what I aspire to me. That would be great."
Blashill also mentioned Calgary's Mark Giordano as a model for what Cholowski could achieve. Giordano is second to San Jose's Brent Burns in points among defensemen, with 52 to Burns' 55.
"He's got maybe the (second) most points for a defenseman right now in the league but he's also way up on the plus side. He's responsible defensively, he plays every situation, generates offense as well," Cholowski noted. "For me, that's a great guy to watch."
Giordano leads all defensemen in plus-minus at plus-29.
MANTHA'S GOAL IN GOALS: It has been a seesaw season for Anthony Mantha, but the Red Wings power forward has turned the page on the first half of the campaign and is completely focused on what he does best -- scoring goals.
Mantha led the Wings in goals last season with 24. Despite missing 15 games this season after surgery to repair the ligament near the right middle finger he injured in a fight, Mantha is confident he can surpass last season's goal total.
"You always try and get better year after year. Personally, 24, I want to get more than that," Mantha said. "With 15 games missed, I am pretty much halfway through the season. If I'm healthy for the rest of the season, I think I could put it into an extra gear or two and put in more goals, more points, hopefully, get a good playoff push and come in tight in the end and make the playoffs."
In 36 games, Mantha has 12 goals among his 20 points, is minus-6 and averages 17:12 per game.
After an extremely slow start to his season, Mantha was beginning to put it together before his injury and feels pretty good about his game since he's returned, though he's a bit hesitant to claim his play is finally at a consistent level.
"It's hard to say, you look back at the first games you played before the injury some of them went super good, some of them were harder," he said. "So, you kind of think about that for a full month and there's nothing you can do anything about it except work out and hope for the fastest recovery you can. When I came back I think I was ready to play, I'm playing pretty good hockey, so I need to keep pushing forward and do the best that I can."
Since he was playing well (six points in nine games) before the Wings' eight-day hiatus, was Mantha a bit disappointed having so much time away from the game?
"I think it came at a good time for everyone. It's different than being out long-term with an injury, being out seven days on a vacation, it's so much better on the mental side being on vacation," Mantha said. "It just feels good and refresh(ing). If you had some small injuries, you get rid of them during this break, so it's perfect."
Mantha wouldn't reveal the goal total he set for himself, but you have to believe he has his sight set on 30, because he and the Wings feel they're on the cusp of putting together a string of victories and getting back into the playoff race.
"We saw some stats (Thursday) morning in the last 15 games we were in the top 10 in shots on net, goals and stuff like that," Mantha said. "So, we just need to keep doing that and have better special teams, we could win a lot of games if we do, playoff push, I can't say easier, but more realistic."
Hosting the Maple Leafs will be a challenge, but Mantha looks forward to tangling with Toronto.
"It's going to be hard, (Thursday) was a good practice to get the rust off, it's going to help on the ice on Friday to just get ready. They (Toronto) had a break, I don't know when they finished, but they had the same break we do, seven or eight days, the whole league is in the same boat so hopefully it's a good game Friday night.
"Toronto is always a fun game to play against, everybody knows that, we'll be ready to play."
RASMUSSEN WITH GRIFFINS: Rookie forward Michael Rasmussen missed the last eight games before the All-Star break with a hamstring injury.
However, Rasmussen was skating fully with the team the last couple days but Blashill did not want to play him as he had not practiced enough.
With the All-Star break and bye joining together for an eight-day layoff, the Wings decided to send Rasmussen to the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins for conditioning.

"It's been a long stretch where between the injury and then the break where he hadn't played so to throw him back in, we just felt it was a little bit better for him and his development to go to GR, play a couple games, then come back here and be ready to play," Blashill said after Thursday's practice. "Again, I think the biggest thing with Ras is we're looking at a long-term approach, what's best for Michael Rasmussen long-term in the process of trying to win games and be successful here.
"I was on the phone with Michael the other day. My belief in where he's going to be hasn't changed one bit. I think he's going to be a guy who scores goals in this league 'cause he's a really good net-front guy. If you look at the league, all the goals come from right in front of the net, right around the net, and that's where he's good at. So while he's learning other parts of the game, the thing that I think is awesome for us is he's an excellent net-front guy and that'll continue as he moves throughout his career."
Because Rasmussen is coming from junior hockey at age 19, he had to either make the Wings or go back to his junior team, the Tri-City Americans. So he is not able to play regularly in the AHL for the Griffins but this brief conditioning stint should be valuable.
"The unfortunate part of the agreement, which I don't want to get into that, is the fact that he is a guy who can't play in the minors," Blashill said. "So sometimes you need a bridge. It's a huge step from college or major junior to the American League or the NHL. It's a way easier step from the AHL to the NHL. I believe that 100 percent. I've lived it, I've seen it, there's no doubt about it. So what happens at times is guys are certainly ready to move on from the level they're at, but these are hard leagues to learn in so for him to be able to take that couple games down there I think is a good thing for him."
Rasmussen scored twice, one an empty-netter, in the Griffins' 5-3 victory over the Texas Stars and he'll play again with the Griffins against the San Antonio Rampage tonight before returning to the Wings.

DALEY SKATING: Defenseman Trevor Daley was supposed to play New Year's Eve against the Florida Panthers.
After the morning skate, his teammates honored Daley with the gift of a Ski Doo jet ski but Daley knew he was hurt then.
"It happened right before that," Daley said. "I was hobbling around. I knew there was something wrong with it. Practice was over."
Daley is now skating but not with the team yet.
"I got the OK to start skating on my own on Wednesday," Daley said. "This is my third day skating. Feels good. It's getting better every day. Hopefully next week I can start skating with the team and go from there."
Daley has missed the last 11 games and hopes to return by the time the team leaves for the Fathers and Mentors trip on Feb. 8.