Ian White to miss up to two weeks

Red Wings defenseman Ian White certainly picked a very difficultway to endear himself to his new teammates.During the third period of Saturday's game against the DallasStars, White dove in the crease to block Jamie Benn's shot -- with his face."I never saw the highlight until later on after thegame," Drew Miller said. "He knew what he was doing. It wasn't justan accident, he put himself in front of it. He said he tried to get his handsup a little bit but anytime you do that for your team, it shows your characterand your dedication to the team. "That's something that you want out of ateammate. You know that they're going to go to battle for you and putthemselves on the line to better the team."White saved a goal but cost himself a fractured cheekbone, whichwill keep him out of the lineup for one to two weeks. He will not make the roadtrip with the Wings but the next time he does, he will be rewarded for hisheroism."The guy's got a lot of guts to be able to throw his facelike that in front of the puck," goaltender Jimmy Howard said. "Itold him I'd buy him dinner here in St. Louis but unfortunately he can't flywith us, he's not coming on the trip so I'll hit him up the next time he's onthe road with us."Coach Mike Babcock is taking the loss of White, who had threegoals and four assists, with his usual aplomb."It's an opportunity for (Mike) Commodore to get in and Big E(Jonathan Ericsson) to play more and (Jakub) Kindl to play more," Babcocksaid. "So I look at it as an opportunity. Obviously Whitey's been playingreal well for us. That part's tough. It's no different than Bert (ToddBertuzzi) getting hurt. It gives someone else an opportunity."In Monday's practice, captain Nick Lidstrom was paired withEricsson, his fellow Swede."I think Whitey's been an excellent addition for us, adding aright-handed shooter on the power play," Lidstrom said. "He worksreal hard in his own zone. He's very competitive, which you saw on the playwhen he got the puck in the face. He'll be missed but Ericsson will get anopportunity to get more ice time now."Commodore was slowed by a knee injury, which prevented him fromplaying at the start of the season. Now the 32-year-old will get a chance toplay with Kindl."Obviously I'm going to take whatever I can get and hope Ican play some minutes and get a little bit of a streak as far as gamesgoing," Commodore said. "With my injury, then play two, then out aweek. I just need to play, that's all. "So here's an opportunity for me. St.Louis is a tough place to play but I just need to go out there, handle the pucka little bit, move the puck, just play like I normally do and I'll befine."Babcock said Niklas Kronwall would take White's spot at the pointon the first power play unit.