Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen has been ill at ease, physically and statistically.

He practiced today for the first time this week, after battling a sickness bad enough that he got blood work done. He never feared that he had mumps, the infection that has spread through NHL locker rooms, and it turned out that it was just a bug. That helps explain why he's a "minus" player for a rare time in his career.

Franzen plans to play Friday, when the Detroit Red Wings host the New York Islanders (7:30 p.m., FSD). He missed Tuesday's game, laid low by fever and aches.

"At the beginning of this week," Franzen said, "I just felt really, really awful. Like no energy, nothing. I figured I needed a couple of days off to get healthy. I've been battling stuff for the last three weeks. Enough was enough. Just needed to get rid of it."

Going back to Thanksgiving Eve, Franzen has contributed six assists but no goals. Asked how the flulike symptoms affected his play, Franzen said, "Energywise, it's been hard for a while. Been feeling better the last couple of days."

Franzen always has been a "plus" player at the end of his seasons, which is why his team-worst minus-9 stands in such glare. He blamed "bad luck." Plus-minus can be a deceiving statistic (a few years back, after losing Nicklas Lidstrom as a partner, former Wings defenseman Ian White's staggering plus rating nosedived), which is why coach Mike Babcock looks at the bigger picture.

"I'm aware of all the numbers," he said. "Goals for, goals against, chances for, chances against, are you involved in the chances, are you involved in the highlight video on a negative side or a positive side? We grind her all up, so we have a pretty handle on what guys are doing."

It's a common theme with Franzen -- the team's biggest forward at 6-feet-4, 220-odd pounds -- that he can be an incredible player when he really skates. Franzen runs hot and cold, but he has put up reasonable numbers offensively this season, with 19 points in 25 games.

It's fair to think that his goal drought in December has something to do with feeling drained.

"He can help us when he's energized," Babcock said. "He's had a bug now for a couple of weeks, and hopefully, he's through it and can get going. If your work doesn't come before your skill, you've got no chance to be any good. You've got to skate, you've got to work. And if you can't, you've got to have people around you that flat-out can. But you can only have one guy per line, max, that doesn't really haul."

Franzen practiced today with Riley Sheahan and Tomas Jurco.

Forward Stephen Weiss (shoulder) is also on the horizon for the Wings; he practiced for the first time since hurting his left shoulder Friday and said he hopes to play as soon as Sunday.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.