Johan Franzen placed on long-term IR after return post concussion-like symptoms

“I don’t think we did much of anything”, Hurricanes coach Bill Peters told reporters.

Daniel Cleary thought it over, and he didn’t want to stop playing hockey. It certainly is a tough decision for any athlete to face and make but in Franzen’s case it’s a decision he may soon have to make.

The Detroit Red Wings were down a man – forward Johan Franzen – for a good chunk of their 2014-2015 campaign; the 35 year old Swedish winger was held out of all but 33 regular season games with post-concussion symptoms, failing to get cleared for play again until right before the start of his current campaign.

It’s easy to suggest that the best thing for Franzen would be to walk away from the game while his senses are intact, but none of us are him, though we can relate to what it would be like to have something we love so much taken away from us. Should he continue to struggle with concussion symptoms, though, the club is eligible to place him on LTIR retroactive to the date he was placed on regular injured reserve; this gives the Red Wings a bit more flexibility with the situation without rushing Franzen too much. He worked hard over the summer to get himself into a good position, so I feel extraordinarily bad for him.

If I would get a really bad hit again and I would feel the same way again, that’s probably it.

“From the hockey team’s perfective I’ve never focused on who’s not available, I’ve focused on who’s available but from a personal standpoint I wish he wasn’t going through this”, Blashill added. Forward Darren Helm, also seeking to recover from a concussion suffered in training camp, had hoped to be ready to go by this weekend but suffered a setback in those plans. “I want to play”.

Detroit will roll the same lineup as they used to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 on Tuesday night.

“That I don’t have the answer to”, Blashill said.

“I think the loser has to wear the other team’s shirt and hat and I think we have dinner on the line”, Abdelkader said. At the time, Cleary had been an impact playoff player the previous spring (with 10 points in 14 games) and was among the leadership group in the locker room. “It’s good for us”.

“That’s all I ever thought about with injuries”.