Pat Caputo: Was Anthony Mantha Only Called Up Out Of Desperation By Red Wings?
By: Pat Caputo
@PatCaputo98
Like seemingly everybody in this town, I have been clamoring for the Red Wings to call up Anthony Mantha from Grand Rapids.
He has size and skill and fits perfectly the Red Wings' urgent need for a presence in front of the net, especially on their power play, which has struggled mightily.
I have no issue with the Red Wings doing this, except for one factor.
I find the timing curious. It's like they are bringing Mantha up to be a savior after being shutout by the lowly Maple Leafs Sunday, and feeding him to the rugged Philadelphia Flyers on the road in the biggest game of the season. The Flyers trail the Red Wings by three points for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but have two games in hand. The Red Wings have lost 10 straight regular season games at Philly dating back to 1997. Mantha is going to constantly get hit in front of the net, especially by Flyers' defenseman Radko Gudos, one of the NHL most notorious cheapshot artists. Wouldn't it have been wiser to bring up Mantha under less difficult circumstances?
As is, this will be definitely baptism under fire for the 21-year power forward. How will it turn it out?
Our Red Wings' coverage tonight with Ken Kal and Paul Woods starts 7:10 on 97.1 The Ticket. I will be on the after the game tonight with Dan Leach to talk about it. Tune in or listen here: http://player.radio.com/listen/station/971-the-ticket
