Living on the Edge

It's only normal for a blog named "Franzenmuth" to make a blog post after Johan Franzen pretty much single-handedly defeated the Sharks last night, right? I mean, he is the namesake of this blog, so it seems fitting that I make a post about the game...even if I would do that anyway.

I will admit right now that I missed 2/3 of his hat trick. My brother and I decided that missing the last half of the first wouldn't be a huge deal, so we started watching Community on NBC, which was amazing. But when my cell phone rang at the same time as the house phone, we knew something was up.

The beast has awoken. As my friend said, "He got hungry...for curly fries." [Goals, too.]

Michael Rosenberg makes an accurate point: "In the playoffs, Franzen makes the amazing seem inevitable. He simply overwhelms people. Franzen now has scored 31 goals in his last 49 playoff games. Not one of these goals was a fluke."

Remember when he scored more goals than Colorado two years ago? He had hat tricks in two consecutive games. Someone remind me, who did San Jose play before us? Oh, that's right. From Franzen's mouth: "Yeah, Hank and Bert tried to feed me as much as they could, I think." They don't call it "Feed The Mule" for nothing. Hell, I have a t-shirt that says that. It's what you're supposed to do during the playoffs.

Dear Joe Thornton, Get your hands off of my Captain. I know you're frustrated because one Red Wing is outscoring you personally in the playoffs, but taking cheap shots at someone like Nicklas Lidstrom is an unforgivable sin. And dear non-Red Wings bloggers and sports writers, Stop saying that the dynasty is over. You say that every year since Stevie retired and it's getting tiresome.

Oh hey, Dan Boyle. Thanks for scoring another goal for the opposing team. Keep that up and we'll make you an honorary Red Wing.

Okay, okay, maybe I'm getting my hopes up a little bit too much. I told people yesterday that I honestly expected us to lose last night and if we did win, I knew I would just get my hopes up and when we lose on Saturday, I'll be devastated. And that is exactly what's happening.

Time for me to be a Debbie Downer and point out the reality, as much as I hate to admit it. We've won one game, and we won it convincingly. But if we want to go to the Conference Finals for the fourth consecutive year, we have three more of these to win. I'm pretty sure Mike Babcock is constantly telling his players, "Take it a game at a time, guys," and if they do that, it should work out well. The non-Debbie Downer aspect: if we can steal Game Five from the Sharks at home, we're heading back to The Joe and the pressure is more on San Jose. If we can do this, even if we still lose in the end, we will have given it a fighting chance.

But this is all still up in the air. There are a lot of "Ifs" in the second half of that last paragraph. Have the Red Wings played two dominating games in a row these playoffs? And I mean really dominating. From what I can recall, no. That's another reason why I'm hesitant to jump on the "History Will Be Made" train and be super excited for Game Five.

Even if we go on to lose Game Five, the Red Wings did what they were supposed to do: They didn't get swept on home ice, they didn't lose on home ice, and they ended their season at home with a thrilling victory. And you know what? That's good enough for me if we can't come back and win it.

Enjoy your Franzenfries, people. Enjoy the good times, even if it is pouring rain right outside your window [like it is for me].