29 goals IS a pretty big deal, considering that only 35 players in the entire league managed to score that many.
So on average every team in the league had at least 1 player with more goals than Franzen?
You can't say his production is fine, but then criticize him for lacking effort.
Yes I can - and I said his production "wasn't the issue". Maybe I should clarify that. His regular season production is adequate. But given his lack of effort, and the fact that he is playing with one of the elite playmakers in the NHL, what do you think he could achieve if he actually tried on a nightly basis? He is capable of so much more.
Since breaking out, he's consistently produced at a 30-ish goal level.
He's scored 30 goals once. An ancient Brett Hull playing in the dead puck era got 30, 37 and 25 with Datsyuk. An ancient and decrepit Shanny who could barely skate got 40. Hossa (who apparantly didn't "gel" with Dats) got 40.
Zetterberg going from 4 straight 30+ goal seasons (including seasons scoring 39 and 43) to now scoring in the low 20s the past few years (hmm... every year since he signed his long-term deal...), and Datsyuk dropping to a ~22 goal pace after 7 straight years in the 27-33 range has a lot more to do with the 'lack of top-6 goal scoring' we seem to all be so worried about, than does Franzen not being a top-10 sniper, regardless of effort level.
Maybe age, injuries, and wingers who don't pull their weight don't help either?
I know you're not blaming him solely for the loss, but I think you (and others) are using him as an outlet for your anger over the disappointing loss.
WRONG! People were moaning about his lack of effort all season - and all of last season too. All regualr season it was the same, wait till the playoffs, wait till the playoffs. Well now we've had 2 consecutive playoff no-shows, and 2 consecutive half-assed regular seasons. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail as Roy Keane used to say.
