Franzen Tears ACL, Out At Least Four Months
October 9th, 2009 | by Chris Hollis |
Well, we wont be seeing this for awhile. According to multiple sources, Johan Franzen has suffered a tear in his left ACL and will miss at least four months of action. Khan’s got the skinny:
“Bad news on the Johan Franzen injury front: The Red Wings just announced that the big forward will be out a minimum of four months after sustaining a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Thursday’s 3-2 win over Chicago.
General manager Ken Holland said the team has recalled Justin Abdelkader from Grand Rapids (AHL).”
Go ahead and pick any four letter expletive you’d like. Seriously, they all work here.
This is a tough one for Wings fans to stomach, especially on the heels of a win last night over the rival Blackhawks, a win in which Franzen scored the game winning goal. But apparently we shouldn’t be surprised that this happened, since Franzen has suffered a knee injury in October each of the last three seasons, and all of them against, you guessed it, the Blackhawks.
Well, I’m trying to find some silver lining in all of this, but I’m seeing nothing but black. In Franzen we lose a big physical player capable of scoring somewhere between 30 and 40 goals and who was expected to help replace some of the scoring we lost to free agency by stepping up his game this season. He’s a clutch player and there is not one person in the lineup who looks ready or capable of stepping in and filling his shoes. Lets not forget that the reason we weren’t able to afford a big name FA this offseason is because we locked up Mule as our big FA splash during the regular season.
At this point, it’s too early to tell what this does to our season and playoff hopes, but there’s no doubt that the Central just got even harder to compete in. Will we miss the playoffs? I’m not ready to start making kneejerk reactions only three games into the season, but what I can tell you is that the remaining Wings will have to work even harder to get every inch they can in this division.
We’ll keep an eye on the lines and let you know how those shake out for Saturday’s game against the Caps.
Tags: Johan Franzen, Justin Abdelkader
By Jamie Favreau on Oct 9, 2009
I heard that and said, “Noooooo” He is going to be a tough guy to replace and maybe now that Maltby and Draper got their groove back at least temporarily… maybe they can provide some hope.
No one can replace such a clutch player as him. Here is to an exciting season because we know nothing is a given this year.
By @craterburnsyou on Oct 9, 2009
KAHHHHN!!!!!
This will make it interesting to see what Babcock does to the lines. He’s very anal about keeping Z and Pavel apart, so I’d wager he moved Fil up. The problem with that is he has been nothing but praise about the 3rd line. I’d say you almost want to move the 3rd to 2nd… put Z up on the first.. Shift helm to 3rd line center with Cleary and Bert.. put Abby in the center on the 4th with May/Drapes/Eaves. I don’t think i missed anyone. That would be my move. We’ll see what Babcock does though.
By Chris Hollis on Oct 9, 2009
Hard to say right now, especially with Helm saying he’s ready to come back Tuesday in Buffalo.
My best guess for Saturday is:
Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Zetterberg
Cleary-Filppula-Bertuzzi
Leino-Draper-Williams
Maltby-Abdelkader-Eaves