Franzen under the Knife Tomorrow

According to freep.com, the Mule will be seeing his vet in Birmingham, AL tomorrow (Friday) to have surgery to repair his damaged ACL in his knee. Franzen's recovery will keep him out of the Wings' lineup until February. When asked about playing in the Olympics this year, Franzen had this to say:

"I haven't really thought about that yet. It's more the disappointment of not being able to play with the Red Wings. If the Olympics start and I'm not in, that will be a bummer. But I'm shooting for that and trying to get back as soon as possible."

As much as we fear our many Olympians will be injured in Vancouver playing for their respective countries, I can't help but think the Olympic stage might be the perfect rehab for Franzen. It would give him a chance to play in a less physical setting while the games mean nothing to the Red Wings (unless of course, someone gets hurt). If he's not ready for Vancouver, then he'll have that extra time to heal and rehab on his own...a win/win.

So it appears to me that the timing of this injury is actually a little more convenient...at least it didn't happen with 4 games left to play in the season. And the fact that it's an Olympic year actually helps in our case.

Franzen dishes out the details on what happened the night he was injured against Chicago. Apparently, it's all Brent Seabrook's fault...

"I lost my balance somehow and then my weight and his weight, the knee, it didn't hold. It took me a few seconds to get ready to get up again. Then when I got back to the bench it felt better, so I continued. In the intermission, the doctor checked it and it felt pretty stable, so I put a brace on and kept going. But the more the game went on, the more it hurt."

You all know the rest of the story.

Oh and the Rangers beat the Kings last 4-2.