from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

Had the Detroit Red Wings been healthier, Dennis Cholowski would have been a healthy scratch sooner.

That was the message from coach Jeff Blashill after Cholowski sat out Sunday’s matinee against the Vancouver Canucks, a spectator at Rogers Arena as the Wings lost, 3-2.

“This isn’t a one-day decision,” Blashill said. “This has been coming for a while. Part of the learning process for any player is, at times, sitting. People talk about development and they think it’s playing, well, sometimes it’s sitting. Sometimes you have to learn both from a chance to take a breather and watch a game, but just as importantly to understand that you have to correct certain things.

“His defensive game, he’s had way too many times where we’ve been digging it out of the net and he has to continue to learn and get better at those things.”

The Wings couldn't sit Cholowski earlier because of injuries. Veteran defenseman Mike Green returned to the lineup Jan. 11, and Danny DeKeyser on Tuesday.

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