Good thing we locked up a perennial 27 goal-scorer who is quickly unlearning everything that had made him successful in the past. Looking throughout the roster, you'll see guys who bust ass blocking shots or backchecking, guys who make their bread on assists making their teammates better with little fan-fair, guys going to the tough areas to create dirty chances.I didn't see the game, but something hit me when I read all the comments about Franzen. I totally agree that he's more like a black hole than a valuable team mate. What's more it's dawned on me that his attitude is so bad, he probably wouldn't care if he's benched. Although I'd like nothing better than to see that happen. He.is.useless.
With Franzen, you get 27 goals. That's it. He no longer brings the effort or intangibles to make him an asset. He gets 27 goals from playing with Pavel Datsyuk, not from creating for himself. Passenger. Content to play only well enough as to not make it blatantly obvious that he has taken the money and security the Wings granted him just that, for granted.
Bench away. (Babcock will never bench Franzen)
