Technically speaking, the Detroit Red Wings’ most valuable players are Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.
However, Johan Franzen has utilized the absence of the latter to put together what could be a serious bid for team MVP for the 2012-13 season.
Since Datsyuk went down to injury against the Ottawa Senators seven games ago, Franzen has amassed nine points (4G, 5A), a plus-seven rating and has averaged 3.5 shots per game - all this while switching between playing on the wing and at center.
Despite the absence of Datsyuk, as well as Zetterberg and Darren Helm, the Red Wings have gone 5-2-0 their past seven games thanks in large part to “the Mule” putting the team on his back.
Now, considering how Franzen came to have that particular moniker bestowed upon him, his performance of late shouldn’t exactly be unexpected.
Indeed, it was during Franzen’s first training camp prior to the 2005-06 season, then penciled in as a third-line center, that captain Steve Yzerman noticed how hard the rookie Swede worked. Yzerman made the offhand equivocation between the det ...
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Article written by Matt Hutter
How Johan Franzen Has Put Himself in the Running for Detroit Red Wings’ Team MVP
December 10th, 2013 by Matt Hutter Leave a reply »
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