Franzen should have been at Tae Bo class during the lockout

[brett 1,029]

i was fine with mule come playoff time,when it counts. but 2 years of under performing has done it for me

he doesnt have one ounce of heart. he could be dominate if he used his size. hes got great hands and if he used his size with it he would be unstoppable, guys would fear him.

i could care less if he stays or goes.

[unsaddleddonald 357]

People are just sheep and flock to bash on the same players that everybody else is bashing on. Franzen leads our team in scoring every year... Oh, but he's lazy.

I think Flippula is great but when down by 1 in the last minutes of a game I rather have Franzen on the ice

And that, in a nutshell, is one of the Red Wing's biggest problems.

Franzen can play second fiddle (to Hank in 08 and Hossa in 09), but he can't be "the guy".

[sean 19]

It's pretty lame when he taunts an opposing player and then hides behind the ref. Put up or shut up!

Probably he is saving his pretty face for another Dodge commercial. "Today I didn't even have to take a shower!"

[The Secret 304]

I'd rather him focus on taking the body in the corners and the forecheck.

Playing hockey would be a priority for me, rather then throwing punches.

I tend to agree with you. Not everyone has the instinct or spirit to fight but he can still play like a Power Forward by finishing his checks with some authoritah, mucking in the corners and driving the net... He can to all of that, he is a big strong guy just needs to learn to play like one.

[evilmrt 636]

Everyone's complained about him being lazy for the past couple years. Lockout happens, and he doesn't go home to Europe to play. Gee, I was so curious as to what the result would be.

[esteef 2,679]

Comment from Mlive's discussion today:

"Tootoo needs to facewash Mule during warm-ups, EVERY GAME!"

esteef

[Dabura 12,232]

I grow weary of this "He's our leading scorer!" line.

The guy's good for 20-25-ish regular season goals. Which is nice...except, that's it. He plays like an old Brett Hull, minus what made Hull elite even in the latter stage of his career. He is breathtakingly inconsistent; he can disappear for weeks, or maybe (just maybe) he'll carry the team on his back for a couple postseason rounds (if he feels like it, and as long as the opposing teams aren't especially tough or imposing). He's not especially physical. He's not great defensively. He doesn't intimidate anyone. He's got great speed, but rarely gets going, so you'd be excused for thinking he's 40 years old. He has the tools to be an absolute force in this league, but he doesn't seem to have the head or heart, doesn't seem terribly into the requisite work, commitment, dedication, effort, etc. And what has he done in the playoffs the past couple of seasons? Sorry, but, being a Red Wings fan, I've learned that regular season success can be incredibly misleading.

etc.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Dabura

[GMRwings1983 8,803]

Agreed.

And also if he's not going to fight, he needs to knock it off with the gloved punches, suckerpunches and whatnot. If he's going to start that crap in a scrum, he should back it up.

I don't get it.

Am I the only one who sees Franzen as a modern day Rick Tocchet?

[The Secret 304]

Comment from Mlive's discussion today:

"Tootoo needs to facewash Mule during warm-ups, EVERY GAME!"

esteef

LOL... I bet 5'5" Tootoo would beat the snot out of 6'4" Mule.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

He's even taken it a step further this year, he tosses off one glove before hiding behind the officials now haha. I haven't been a Franzen fan for a long time, mostly because I like guys who hustle and play physical, but he just looks so lazy on the ice when he doesn't have the puck. The worst part about that is I don't like for him to be the puck carrier, he should be skating 100 miles an hour to the net as soon as Datsyuk or Zetterberg bring the puck over the line to create a mismatch with the defenseman which should lead to a scoring chance. But since 2009 I can't recall him doing that much. Sure he leads the team in goals every year, but that's because we've become a goal by committee kinda team the last few years. We have world class centers, but goal scoring wingers, not so much.

And, I'd rather Franzen not fight because this is embarrassing:

[ogreslayer 1,069]

Nobody's suggested that Franzen needs the same MMA training that Huds went through last year yet? How did that slip by?

At the very least, the Wings need to keep Homer in the organ-I-zation to help teach the players left how to play with some balls. Call him the Old Balls Coach.

[Dabura 12,232]

One clean hook from Johan Franzen would cripple Thor himself. With great power comes great responsibility.

[Dabura 12,232]

Former Red Wing Marian Hossa scored his NHL-leading fifth goal on a
power play 1:41 into overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 3-2
comeback victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

[Nev 1,085]

The Hossa boat sailed a long time ago guys, no point swimming after it. Holland said all season long he could only sign one of Franzen or Hossa, and Franzen got in there first.

[Dabura 12,232]

Holland said all season long he could only sign one of Franzen or Hossa, and Franzen got in there first.

I'm going for an and-now-it-has-come-back-to-haunt-him kinda thing.

Edited January 25, 2013 by Dabura

[Nev 1,085]

But back then who knew that Franzen would spend most of his time laughing all the way to the bank? Hossa cost more in the end too.

[Guest Playmaker]

Everyone's complained about him being lazy for the past couple years. Lockout happens, and he doesn't go home to Europe to play. Gee, I was so curious as to what the result would be.

Clearly, Zetterberg and Datsyuk have benefitted from playing there? Where is the criticism for either of these guys? Both have been invisible. But Franzen is lazy? So what does it make them?

[shoobiedoobin 138]

Clearly, Zetterberg and Datsyuk have benefitted from playing there? Where is the criticism for either of these guys? Both have been invisible. But Franzen is lazy? So what does it make them?

No, not really.

[kook_10 1,705]

[Dabura 12,232]

But back then who knew that Franzen would spend most of his time laughing all the way to the bank? Hossa cost more in the end too.

Hossa was a known, a sure thing. Franzen was a question mark. I'd go with the known.

[shoobiedoobin 138]

Hossa was a known, a sure thing. Franzen was a question mark. I'd go with the known.

In hindsight yes but at the time Franzen was giving everyone pretty compelling reasons to choose he over Hossa for a couple mil less or so. Managing a team sometimes is about anticipation and foresight. Holland boofed this one. Which isn't that bad, he's gotten so many right and he had damn good reason to believe he'd be right here too. Y'know it wasn't so much Holland as it is Franzen making his decision look bad. If I had to pick Hossa vs Franzen actually trying, I'd take Franzen. But Hossa vs the Franzen we've seen for the past two years, Hossa in a goddamn landslide.

[Carman 387]

Hossa was a known, a sure thing. Franzen was a question mark. I'd go with the known.

I was on the Hossa band wagon since the start, but it wasn't that easy of a decision at the time. Hossa was the more known commodity correct, but Franzen was coming off a 34 goal season, after 27 goals. And two brilliant, I mean brilliant back to back playoff performances of well over a PPG. and 25 goals in 39 playoff games. It was a player that the people in the front office saw grow right before their eyes into one of the more dominating playoff performers in recent memory.

Franzen was due a raise, he had deserved it, but Hossa was an elite winger that I really wish we put more effort into keeping, but I understand the cap troubles the team had. They wanted to keep their developed playoff beast in Franzen, but they also had a raise for Zetterberg coming up in a year to 6.7 million after playing 2.6 for million, they had to go sign Stuart as well. I wish the wings did sign Hossa to that long term deal, but it wasn't just about Franzen and Hossa.

[Guest Playmaker]

I was on the Hossa band wagon since the start, but it wasn't that easy of a decision at the time. Hossa was the more known commodity correct, but Franzen was coming off a 34 goal season, after 27 goals. And two brilliant, I mean brilliant back to back playoff performances of well over a PPG. and 25 goals in 39 playoff games. It was a player that the people in the front office saw grow right before their eyes into one of the more dominating playoff performers in recent memory.

Franzen was due a raise, he had deserved it, but Hossa was an elite winger that I really wish we put more effort into keeping, but I understand the cap troubles the team had. They wanted to keep their developed playoff beast in Franzen, but they also had a raise for Zetterberg coming up in a year to 6.7 million after playing 2.6 for million, they had to go sign Stuart as well. I wish the wings did sign Hossa to that long term deal, but it wasn't just about Franzen and Hossa.

Really, stop being logical! What others are also failing to factor into the equation is Mr. Ilitch. He will always go with the homegrown talent over a free agent who was here for one season. He is also loyal to successful playoff performers. Maybe to a fault perhaps, but that's how he rolls, and it seems to have worked well for him.

[Nev 1,085]

OK, I'm totally digging the Spinal Tap reference, but I'm completely missing the significance of it! Smell the glove? Hello Cleveland? How-much-more-black-can-you-get? None, none-more-black?

[kook_10 1,705]

He is a b*tch who constantly gets gloves shoved in his face.

(the sustain - listen to it.)

Edited January 25, 2013 by kook_10