Not Canuck enough?

[charlio lemieux]

Johan Frazen scoring machine of the '08 playoffs is sitting out the Western Conference finals with concussion symptoms.

Is it just me or would Jarome Iginla, Ryan Smyth, or Chris Pronger be out there?

Maybe not. Perhaps the days of Lindros' 18 Tylenol just to play, are over. Maybe personal health is at such a premium that being healthy for the next contract supercedes the desire to win it all?

Or perhaps we have a player, who being European, does not have the supposed, "desire to win", that Canadians have bred into them?

Time was a player gave everything, inclluding personal health, to win. Are those days gone?

So why is the hottest player in the playoffs, sitting out the semi-fianls?

Are teams being more cautious and protective of players futures?

Or, is Franzen just not Canuck enough, does he not have the desire and fortitude to battle through the pain?

[KB in Kelowna]

Johan Frazen scoring machine of the '08 playoffs is sitting out the Western Conference finals with concussion symptoms.

Is it just me or would Jarome Iginla, Ryan Smyth, or Chris Pronger be out there?

Maybe not. Perhaps the days of Lindros' 18 Tylenol just to play, are over. Maybe personal health is at such a premium that being healthy for the next contract supercedes the desire to win it all?

Or perhaps we have a player, who being European, does not have the supposed, "desire to win", that Canadians have bred into them?

Time was a player gave everything, inclluding personal health, to win. Are those days gone?

So why is the hottest player in the playoffs, sitting out the semi-fianls?

Are teams being more cautious and protective of players futures?

Or, is Franzen just not Canuck enough, does he not have the desire and fortitude to battle through the pain?

some long time Canuck fans might argue that those are Vancouver Canucks qualities ;) :laughing:

[MadDevil]

Well, it's kind of hard to play the role of doctor as a fan. I would imagine that if the doctor comes in and says "Look, you could go out there and play, but you're risking the rest of your career by doing so" it probably makes a player think seriously about not playing until they're medically cleared.

Besides, I seem to recall a guy named Scott Stevens missing the last half of the 2003-2004 season with concussion symptoms and I don't recall anybody calling him out on it or questioning his desire to win. Now I'm not sure how the severity of Franzen's symptoms compare to those that Stevens and others have had, and until we know (and we all know how accurate and detailed injury reports are in the playoffs) I'd say give him the benefit of the doubt.