We all knew it wouldn’t last.

This afternoon, both Joe Hicketts and Dominic Turgeon were sent to Grand Rapids.

Even with a solid 15:13 of ice-time in last night’s win for Hicketts and a fourth-line role played by Turgeon in the past four games, management still believes that Grand Rapids is the best place for them. I can agree with Turgeon, since he has posted a middling 23 points in 40 games for the Griffins this year. With an average time-on-ice of 9:37 in the 4 games with the Wings, Turgeon could use the extra ice-time in Grand Rapids.

We can also assume that Luke Glendening is finally healthy enough to take his spot in the lineup because of this move.

This can (extremely slightly) improve this team’s forward group. Glendening has been a dead-even 50% Fenwick For at 5v5 this season. This is somewhat impressive with him starting in the defensive-end of the ice 66% of the time. Not the best option for the future, but management seems to be thinking short-term lately.

With Hicketts, it’s hopefully a different story.

His 8 points in 43 games for the Griffins is not at all impressive this year, but we might as well see what he can do at the highest level of hockey. Are any other options truly better in the long-term? You can argue that the assumed improvement in ice-time is a primary reason for the demotion. But since the AHL is terrible with keeping time-on-ice stats, will he truly be better off with the Griffins?

At this time of the season, we should find out soon enough. Hopefully with the Wings selling as much as possible to attain future assets at the trade deadline – Hicketts might have a spot on the team for the last 20ish games in the season.

So don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll all see Joey again this season.