Good, if not surprising, news on Franzen. The news on the power play isn’t earth-shattering either, as Babcock indicated as much yesterday without actually saying it. Interesting to see St. James suggest Franzen’s return will boost the power play. Not like it was ripping along before he went down… But in theory, yes, it should help.
Also: the long break either reset the rotation or Babcock’s already done with alternating goalies, as Jimmy Howard will start tomorrow night.
… in practice and only for the power play, which the team spent yesterday working on. Franzen moved up to Z’s spot on the first unit, while Z moved down to the second with Bertuzzi and Hudler/Filppula. But even if Franzen is in Thursday, they may not start with this look. Babcock indicates he may go to it if the original units don’t get going. So, say the second power play of the Flames game?
So that’s the big news. We’re seeing the downside to the big break between games first hand here. The upside is the team gets to work on things like the power play and on getting healthy. The downside is…no games to look forward to or talk about.