Mule Carries Big Load for Surging Red Wings
NASCAR News - Craig Custance - SportingNews.com
May 13, 2009
DETROIT -- Dan Cleary didn't use the word we might have, but he got his point across all the same.
In Sunday's 4-1 win over Anaheim -- a victory that gave the Red Wings a 3-2 series edge -- Johan Franzen scored his seventh goal of the playoffs. It was his 18th goal in his last 19 playoff games dating back to last season. Nobody in the NHL has more playoff goals during that span. Not Sidney Crosby. Not Alex Ovechkin.
In fact, there might not be a player in the league competing at as high a level as Franzen is right now. He's scoring nearly a goal a game at the time of year when goals are hardest to come by.
Cleary just shook his head while considering. "It's disgusting," he finally concluded.
See, we were thinking sensational. Or outstanding. Or unbelievable.
But disgusting works.
"Stats don't lie. He's a force," Cleary said. "He's a top five player in the world right now."
Yet, when you throw around the biggest names in hockey, his probably is not one of the first five -- or even 10 -- mentioned. You could probably even list five Detroit teammates who are bigger stars.
But when the games are tightest, and wins the most meaningful, it's the Mule doing the scoring.
When told about his scoring pace over 19 playoff games, Franzen seemed surprised.
"Oh really?" he said. Then he tried to explain it.
"I don't know, you don't get that many chances, you have to dig down once you get them. Maybe that's what's happening."
He said his game works better in playoff-type hockey. Whether it's the physical nature of the playoffs or just the higher intensity of the games, the Swede agreed that his game was better suited for this time of year.
"I think Mule's game is suited for any time of year, but his activation level isn't quite the same," said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. "Now that he's said that, I'll remember that for next year in November and in February."
Teammate Nicklas Lidstrom has another theory. At some point in March of 2008, Lidstrom said, Franzen learned how to score consistently at the NHL level.
That March, Franzen scored 14 goals in 13 games and continued playing at that high level right into the playoffs.
The player who broke in as a checker suddenly realized he could be an elite goal-scorer in the NHL. It was part confidence, and part learning how to use his 6-2, 210-pound frame to wear down opponents.
"He's a strong man, tough to knock off the puck," Lidstrom said. "When you have a confidence to hold off a player and take him to the net or fight off a check to make a pass, it helps tremendously." ,p> Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle has noticed a decided change in Franzen's size between this year and last year and thinks he can still fill out physically.
That physical improvement helps, but Carlyle is most impressed where Franzen is putting the puck.
"It's not like they're shots in the middle of the net," Carlyle said. "He's finding holes."
He has been finding holes in the playoffs for a while now. And when they're not there, he's strong enough to make his own, not afraid to fight for space others might prefer to avoid.
This time of year, that kind of play is rewarded -- although not usually at this pace.
"The Mule," teammate Jiri Hudler said, "that's what he does."
Craig Custance is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at ccustance@sportingnews.com.
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