The Red Wings' quest to return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the third consecutive season took a huge hit Friday.
Johan Franzen, who scored the winning goal in Thursday night's 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, will miss at least four months because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee.
"It happened last night, I don't know exactly when," general manager Ken Holland said. "It happened before he scored the goal and he played the rest of the game with it."
After practice Friday morning, coach Mike Babcock said Franzen, 29, had gotten bumped in the game and wasn't feeling great so he went for tests, which revealed the ACL tear.
Holland said the team would call up Justin Abdelkader from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League. Abdelkader was sent down Thursday after the team signed Brad May.
Abdelkader, 22, played in both of the Red Wings' games against the Blues in Sweden, getting 8-10 minutes a game.
Danny Cleary could take Franzen's spot on Pavel Datsyuk's line or Babcock could put Henrik Zetterberg with Datsyuk, as he has in the past. Darren Helm is expected back from his shoulder injury, perhaps as early as Tuesday.
Franzen went from scoring 10-12 goals in his first two seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07 to scoring 27 in 2007-08 and a career-high 34 last season. The Wings rewarded him with an 11-year, $43.5 million contract
"You don't lose a power forward who scores 35 goals and breaks Gordie Howe's playoff scoring record and think you're going to magically find another one and plop him in there," Holland said. "It's a (salary) cap world. It's going to put pressure on 18 other guys. Everyone's got to be 10 percent better. At the same time it opens up an opportunity for somebody else to step up."
Franzen scored nine goals in four games against the Colorado Avalanche two years ago, breaking Howe's record of eight goals in one playoff series.
In the offseason, the team also lost Marian Hossa (40 goals) and Tomas Kopecky (six goals) to the Blackhawks, Mikael Samuelsson (19 goals) to the Vancouver Canucks and Jiri Hudler (23 goals) to the Russian League.
"We lost a lot of goals this summer," Holland said. "It's the same song we've been singing. We're going to have to play better defensively."
Ice chips
Babcock said Chris Osgood would be in goal tonight against the Washington Capitals.
"Ozzie, I thought played real well (Thursday) night and he has to continue to play well," Babcock said.
"I think it's important that he gets off to a good start because it buys Howie (Jimmy Howard ) time to get used to NHL shooters and being in the league and get comfortable."
... Jonathan Ericsson practiced despite leaving Thursday's game because of an injury.
Johan Franzen, who scored the winning goal in Thursday night's 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, will miss at least four months because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee.
"It happened last night, I don't know exactly when," general manager Ken Holland said. "It happened before he scored the goal and he played the rest of the game with it."
After practice Friday morning, coach Mike Babcock said Franzen, 29, had gotten bumped in the game and wasn't feeling great so he went for tests, which revealed the ACL tear.
Holland said the team would call up Justin Abdelkader from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League. Abdelkader was sent down Thursday after the team signed Brad May.
Abdelkader, 22, played in both of the Red Wings' games against the Blues in Sweden, getting 8-10 minutes a game.
Danny Cleary could take Franzen's spot on Pavel Datsyuk's line or Babcock could put Henrik Zetterberg with Datsyuk, as he has in the past. Darren Helm is expected back from his shoulder injury, perhaps as early as Tuesday.
Franzen went from scoring 10-12 goals in his first two seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07 to scoring 27 in 2007-08 and a career-high 34 last season. The Wings rewarded him with an 11-year, $43.5 million contract
"You don't lose a power forward who scores 35 goals and breaks Gordie Howe's playoff scoring record and think you're going to magically find another one and plop him in there," Holland said. "It's a (salary) cap world. It's going to put pressure on 18 other guys. Everyone's got to be 10 percent better. At the same time it opens up an opportunity for somebody else to step up."
Franzen scored nine goals in four games against the Colorado Avalanche two years ago, breaking Howe's record of eight goals in one playoff series.
In the offseason, the team also lost Marian Hossa (40 goals) and Tomas Kopecky (six goals) to the Blackhawks, Mikael Samuelsson (19 goals) to the Vancouver Canucks and Jiri Hudler (23 goals) to the Russian League.
"We lost a lot of goals this summer," Holland said. "It's the same song we've been singing. We're going to have to play better defensively."
Ice chips
Babcock said Chris Osgood would be in goal tonight against the Washington Capitals.
"Ozzie, I thought played real well (Thursday) night and he has to continue to play well," Babcock said.
"I think it's important that he gets off to a good start because it buys Howie (Jimmy Howard ) time to get used to NHL shooters and being in the league and get comfortable."
... Jonathan Ericsson practiced despite leaving Thursday's game because of an injury.
