PITTSBURGH -- To put the crazy scoring streak of Johan Franzen's into historical perspective consider this: In Wayne Gretzky's 10 years with the Edmonton Oilers, only once did he score more goals than Franzen has in this Stanley Cup season.
The greatest scorer in hockey history only had two playoff seasons -- one in Edmonton, one in Los Angeles -- in which he scored more Stanley Cup goals than the 13 Franzen has managed in 13 playoff games with the Detroit Red Wings.
"Really?" said Franzen, when told that his 13 playoff goals and 28 goals in his past 29 games were near the all-time numbers of many of the game's greatest players. "I don't know the history of scoring that amount of goals."
And why would he?
Franzen never had any reason to think about this before. Drafted at the age of 24 after being passed over six times by NHL scouts, never having scored more than 12 goals in any season before this one, he has emerged in the final month of the regular season and the two playoff months as the most dangerous of Detroit weapons.
When asked how this happened, general manager Ken Holland repeated the question: "How does this happen?" he said. "If I had an answer, we'd have two more like him."
But this isn't, his teammates will tell you, any kind of fluke. This is not another John Druce or Chris Kontos story, a playoff player coming from nowhere and then returning there once the season ends. This, they say, is real.
"He's going to be the best power forward in the world," said teammate Dan Cleary. "He can play on any line, any situation. I don't like to compare players, but he's faster than John LeClair. If you get him mad he can like be like (Keith) Tkachuk, but he won't fight. And he's got the net presence and skill of a Tkachuk and maybe a little more wheels.
"This isn't a one-time thing for Johan. This is just the beginning."
Twenty-eight goals in 29 games? That's not real -- it's Bossy-like. And when the Red Wings needed a goal in Game 3 against Pittsburgh, the big play didn't come from Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg, the obvious choices. The big play, an individual play where he made Rob Scuderi look silly, was made by Franzen.
And his appearance now in the Cup final, after missing most of the Eastern Conference championship and Game 1 against Pittsburgh because of mystery concussion-like symptoms, is another reason to believe the Wings can't lose to the Penguins.
"It's really all I'm thinking about," said Franzen, who can't put into words what it means to score all these goals. "I probably won't score this much ever again. I've been really lucky that way.
"People keep telling me (buy a lottery ticket). I don't believe in that. I just want to keep going, I just want to win this thing. I don't know what the word (about me) is out there. I don't read much. I don't watch on TV. I don't think a lot about myself."
But he has to know that these playoffs have been his coming out party. No one player has defined himself in the post-season the way Franzen has. And in a way, he has defined the Wings also.
They can call themselves lucky for drafting Franzen at 24 and for scout Hakan Andersson pushing to pick him earlier. But when your roster is dotted with so many low round picks, it isn't luck anymore.
It becomes good fortune.
