You may remember a brief skirmish from February between Chris Neil and Johan Franzen, in which Franzen said Neil “usually shows up when the game is over and tries to be the hero,” to which Neil responded by calling Franzen gutless before suggesting he “drop his purse, take the lipstick out, put it on his lips.”
But you know who doesn’t remember it?
Chris Neil.
“I forgot about that,” Neil said. “This is a new year. We have more important things than that. We have to worry about getting two points. This doesn’t change my style of game; just go out and play the way that I do.”
Asked if the hostility might be rekindled, Franzen said, “We’ll see. It’s up to him.
“I know what he’s doing and he’s been doing that for a long time, and he’s been doing a great job of doing it.”
Neil fights numerous times a season. Franzen doesn’t fight. Asked how he will respond if Neil challenges him, Franzen said, “Hopefully he gets a penalty and I don’t.”
In Neil’s defense (for forgetting), I forgot about this too. I had to go back and watch the video:
Fun stuff. That was the final meeting between the two clubs last year, meaning tomorrow night’s tilt in Ottawa will be the first time Franzen and Neil have met since all that went down. And much like the last time they met, Franzen is coming off an injury (groin, not a concussion as earlier stated -- he returned on Sunday after a six-game absence) so it’s unlikely he’ll want to engage in any shenanigans.
Yes, shenanigans.