Zetterberg's Complete Game Helped Wings to Cup

By Larry Wigge, NHL.com, Jun 6, 2008

We've seen the him dazzle opponents with his stickwork and speed. We've marveled at his ability to do so many things at a fast pace, always on the move. From a distance, the 27-year-old center is magic. But there's much, much more to the abracadabra act we see from Henrik Zetterberg on the ice – and there's also more than the disheveled blond hair and unshaven look of a surfer.

Too small. Too this. Too that. That's what scouts said of the skinny kid from Njurunda, Sweden. He paid the price back then by having to wait until the seventh round before the Detroit Red Wings picked him with the 210th pick in the 1999 Entry Draft. Heck, for six weeks when he was 17, Zetterberg, wondering about his hockey future, actually took a part-time job cleaning lanes at a bowling alley.

But after getting a chance to lift the Stanley Cup in celebration Wednesday night at Mellon Arena following Detroit's 3-2 victory and its first NHL championship since 2002 and fourth in the last 11 seasons, Zetterberg saw all of his emotions gush out after a game in which he had one goal and one assist, six shots and two hits. His pass, made while he was being taken to the ice, set up Brian Rafalski for the game's first goal at 5:03 on a power play and gave the team a quick start. His goal 7:36 into the third period turned out to be the Cup winner.

Zetterberg's two goals and four assists in the six-game final series gave him 27 points in the playoffs. That enabled him to break a club record of 24 points previously shared by Sergei Fedorov (1995) and Steve Yzerman (1998) and tied him with Sidney Crosby for the most in the Playoffs. He went home with the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP.

"He can pass and he can shoot at an elite level. That's what makes him so difficult to stop, because you don’t know what he’s going to do," teammate and fellow Swede Nicklas Lidstrom said. "Seeing that kind of skill coming at you again and again makes defenders back off and creates openings for his teammates."

But the brilliance of Zetterberg is that he can do so many things to help the Red Wings win: one goal, eight shots, one hit, one blocked shot in Game 1; one assist, six shots, one takeaway, one blocked shot in Game 2; three shots, one blocked shot in Game 3; two shots, one takeaway, two blocked shots in Game 4; two assists, seven shots, two takeaways in Game 5.

"The first thing on my mind is that great players aren't judged on one play, one series or even one full season or career performance. It's all about lifting the Stanley Cup. That's all that I really wanted since I saw my first Stanley Cup Final when I was 13 or 14. When I saw the greatest players in the world celebrate winning by raising the Cup high into the air, I knew it was something I wanted to do," Zetterberg excitedly explained in front of a horde of reporters. "To me, this is a defining moment for anyone who strives to be the best. And doing it with this group of guys, battling through four series, has been real special."

"Henrik, he's a complete player," Red Wings GM Ken Holland said. "He's got great hands, great instincts, he's great in traffic and he really sees the ice well. Over the years I've seen a lot of great players who don't work hard enough to be better. I always tell our scouts, 'Tell me when a smaller guy shows you he can do it and when a bigger guy shows you he can't. It’s clear Henrik always plays bigger than his size."

Still, it was another side of this brilliant center's game that was just as important: For most of the six-game series, Zetterberg was playing head-up against Sidney Crosby, who was not nearly as productive as he had been earlier in the Playoffs. The exclamation point in the series for Zetterberg came during a tense 86-second span late in the third period of Game 4 with Detroit holding on to a 2-1 lead and the Penguins pressing to tie the game and the series.

In those important seconds, Zetterberg made three individual plays, the kind that don't show up on a score sheet – none more crucial than what looked like a sure goal by Crosby, who was waiting to push the puck into the net while stationed at the edge of the goal crease. Instead, Zetterberg first reached to get his stick on the cross-crease pass and then used some of his soccer upbringing to kick it out of harm's way. In that same brilliant sequence, Zetterberg blocked a shot and lugged the puck into the Pittsburgh zone, killing more than 15 seconds of valuable time.

"I knew the importance of that PK," Zetterberg said, with particular emphasis on that in retrospect after the series. "I knew who was out on the ice for them. It was our job to keep them from getting a good shot on goal. It was up to me to do my job."

He did it like a shutdown cornerback in the NFL or a great defensive catcher blocking the plate to prevent the tying run from scoring in the bottom of the ninth.

"The game was in the balance and Z went out there and single-handedly killed it off," gushed teammate Dan Cleary.

"It was interesting. I was thinking of lacrosse at that time," coach Mike Babcock said after that game. "I always hear my son's coach yelling when they're shorthanded 'get a hold of it and hang onto it.' That's what he was doing."
           
Just another part of the all-round game that makes Zetterberg so great, right coach?

"I've been telling people for three years how good Zetterberg is," Babcock continued. "And so this isn't a surprise to me. He's just a conscientious good two-way player."

"He's so good at reading plays, anticipating where the puck is going," Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "He makes it tough for them to find passing lanes and find someone open. He fills the lanes, blocks shots and then when he gets the puck he can hang onto it too, like he did for 10-15 seconds."

Not many NHL stars can play the two-way game that Zetterberg and linemate Pavel Datsyuk can.

"Before this series began, I looked at them and remembered that Zetterberg and Datsyuk were both up for the Selke Trophy (honoring the best defensive forward in the NHL)," said Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, expressing a little reluctance to praise their defensive talent. "But then to see them against guys like Sid (Crosby) and Geno (Malkin) and you can see just how good they are both ways.

"With Zetterberg, he's really patient and strong stick and protects the puck so well. He's the kind of hockey player you appreciate because of how hard he works for the team, offensively and defensively."

It's that kind of effort that makes Zetterberg special, even to his own teammates.

"That's where he stands out from other superstars in this league," Johan Franzen said. "He can play so well in his own end, he can play on a 3 on 5. You don't see other superstars do that, not a lot of them, anyway. That's what makes him so special."

To give you an idea of how Zetterberg dominated offensively before this series, consider that he had five goals and three assists in Detroit's four-game sweep of Colorado in the second round of the Playoffs. He followed that with four goals and four assists in six games against Dallas.

"He's got such a strong stick," Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis added. "You can't take the puck away from him."

One of the other things Zetterberg remembered in retrospect after the Cup victory was his first real battle on the world stage against NHL competition.

"I remember going on the ice for the first time to take a faceoff at the Olympics in Salt Lake City and when I looked up, there was Eric Lindros standing across from me," Zetterberg said. "I must have been giving him five inches and about 40 pounds in that matchup. That opened my eyes. It gave me something to work on before I played my first game in the NHL the next season. I knew I had to get bigger and stronger."

Also ...

"I just missed the Red Wings’ Stanley Cup run in 2002," he said, explaining how he and Niklas Kronwall were brought in to watch two games but did not play. "I had been hoping I could find a place right there at the top with the Olympics for a chance to lift the Stanley Cup in victory. I've got that now ..."

He smiled for a second and then added wistfully, "The only thing left is for me to win a Swedish Elite League title. But that will come sometime after I'm finished winning a couple more of these, I hope."

When watching Zetterberg, you quickly notice the hands, the quick feet, the ability to create while at top speed, the instincts. But what stands out most is Zetterberg's consistency, strength and work ethic.

"You're never going to outwork Hank, that's for sure," Babcock said.

Not when Zetterberg had this little job of lifting the Stanley Cup that he dreamed of raising a long time ago back in Sweden.

Zetterberg Rises to Superstar Level

By Vartan Kupelian, Detroit News, June 6, 2008

As the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Henrik Zetterberg is front-and-center at today's victory parade in downtown Detroit. But there are a lot of people who made extraordinary efforts to bring the Red Wings back to the pinnacle of the NHL:

Kid (no, not Crosby) becomes a star
Left wing Henrik Zetterberg arrived in Detroit as a skinny kid who was easy to pick on, not only by opponents but by some of his teammates.

That's what happens when you're a European hockey player. If the country is Sweden, the examination is intensified.
Zetterberg had to prove himself with every stride. There would be no freebies.
Six years later, Zetterberg is at the pinnacle of his profession. He has become an elite player in the NHL, and now -- finally -- everybody knows it.

He has his name on the Stanley Cup. He has the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs, the player most responsible for taking the Red Wings over the final hurdle.

When next season rolls around, Zetterberg will have evolved from a very nice player on a very good team to an NHL star of the highest order.

Zetterberg, along with teammate Pavel Datsyuk, is a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward. That says a lot about both Red Wings, mainly that they have captured the attention of their peers and others who follow hockey most closely.

It says Zetterberg and Datsyuk deserve to be recognized but fall into something of a gray area. They're great players, but because the Red Wings epitomize the team concept, individual accomplishments are often undervalued.

In that regard, how is it that Nicklas Lidstrom, the best defenseman in the NHL for a decade, has never won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player? Lidstrom isn't even a finalist this year despite leading his team to the Presidents' Trophy and best record during the regular season.

The reason is Lidstrom falls into a different niche. He's a defenseman and gets the Norris Trophy for his efforts.
Until now, Zetterberg's niche wasn't nearly so clearly defined. That's why he landed on the NHL awards ballot under "Selke" despite being every bit as valuable to the Red Wings this year as the Hart Trophy finalists -- Washington's Alex Ovechkin, who will be an overwhelming winner when the vote is announced; Evgeni Malkin of Cup finalist Pittsburgh and Calgary's Jarome Iginla.

Zetterberg is every inch as good as those three and more rounded in his game. He can light it up offensively, shut it down defensively and be a leader. This year that's good enough for the Selke. Another year like it, and he'll be among the finalists for the Hart Trophy.

Zetterberg has become a leader in the Steve Yzerman mold, and when Lidstrom is ready to give up the "C" some day, it will be a perfect fit on Zetterberg's jersey.

Zetterberg Captures Conn Smythe for Sparking Wings

Associated Press, ESPN.com, June 5, 2008

The Detroit Red Wings are Stanley Cup champions because they excel at both ends of the rink.

None of them does it better than Henrik Zetterberg, whose two-way play earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

The Swede's goal midway through the third period proved to be the series winner and he had an assist to lift Detroit to a 3-2 win Wednesday night over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6.

He became just the second European to win the award, joining fellow Swede and teammate Nicklas Lidstrom, who won it in 2002.

"It's special to be on there with so many great players -- especially Nick," Zetterberg said as he looked at the trophy during a news conference.

Zetterberg likely sealed the Conn Smythe with his two-point night.

"He certainly deserved it," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "There's no doubt he was an important player for that group."

Zetterberg finished the playoffs with a 27 points, matching Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby for the top spot.

Zetterberg had 13 goals, tying teammate Johan Franzen for the league lead.

Zetterberg's series-winning goal at 7:36 of the third was short on style, but long on substance.

The shot trickled through Marc-Andre Fleury's pads and after stalling in the crease, the puck went in off the goalie's backside. Zetterberg assisted on Brian Rafalski's goal that put Detroit ahead 1-0 lead 5 minutes into the game.

But Zetterberg's biggest contribution in the playoffs might've come at the defensive end when he locked down Crosby's stick at the side of the net to prevent him from scoring during Pittsburgh's critical 5-on-3 power play late in the 3-2 win in Game 4.

That win put Detroit ahead 3-1 in the series, a cushion it needed because it lost Game 5 in triple overtime.

Zetterberg also helped kill a 5-on-3 advantage the Penguins had in the series-ending game, keeping them scoreless in the first period.

"It was huge," he said.

Zetterberg was strong in his own end during the regular season, too, making him a finalist for the Selke Trophy that is awarded to the forward who performs the best on defense.

He reminds a lot of people of the player Steve Yzerman became when Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman helped the retired Red Wings great become a two-way player.

"Hank and Yzie are very similar in how they play at both ends," Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios said.

Hall of Famer Larry Murphy agreed, adding a comparison to fellow Hall of Famer Ron Francis.

"Yzerman and Francis are the first two names that come to mind, thinking of guys I ever saw play that remind me of Zetterberg," Murphy said. "When I played with those guys, they refused to sacrifice defense for offense. That's a trait Zetterberg has, too."

Yzerman, who now works in Detroit's front office, said the organization can't take credit for the all-around game Zetterberg has had since being drafted with the 210th overall pick in 1999.

"Hank's willingness to backcheck was there from the day we got him," Yzerman said. "The only thing that developed is, he shoots more and he's improved a lot offensively.

"His defense has always been there."

Bowman, who works for the Red Wings as a consultant, agreed.

"Usually it's the other way around, but his defense came first and his offense followed," Bowman said.

Teammate Johan Franzen said Zetterberg's style of play is contagious.

"It's huge to have your best defensive player be your best guy offensively, too," Franzen said. "He's such a smart player and is always in the right spot. He doesn't get too excited. He keep the noise down and just does his job."

"He's one of a kind."

Gold Medal Club

By Mike Wilkinson, Detnews.com, June 5th, 2008

A Swedish paper ran a list of all the players (Swedish first) who have won hockey's three biggest prizes: The Stanley Cup, the Olympic gold medal and the World Championships. The Wings' victory Monday night added three players to the list: Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson and Niklas Kronwall.

Here are the other Swedes:
Tomas Jonsson
Mats Näslund
Hakan Loob
Peter Forsberg
Nicklas Lidstrom

Fredrik Modin

Also in the club are a few other former Red Wings, including Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Brendan Shanahan and Jiri Slegr.

Non-Wings:
Valerie Kamenski
Alexej Gusarov
Alexander Mogilny
Vladimir Malachov
Rob Blake
Joe Sakic
Scott Niedermayer
Chris Pronger
Jaromir Jagr

Zetterberg the Perfect Choice for Conn Smythe

By Phil Coffey, NHL.com, June 5th, 2008

At first glance, there seemed to be so many candidates for the 2008 Conn Smythe Trophy that you wondered who would win.
In the end, there really was only one choice.
Henrik Zetterberg’s tremendous two-way play, not only in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a whole, but in the Final in particular, made him the winner of the Conn Smythe for Most Valuable Player honors.
Zetterberg scored the game-winning goal in Game 6 to clinch the Stanley Cup in the 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins and he also assisted on the opening goal of the game, a power-play tally by Brian Rafalski. But it was Zetterberg’s strong defensive play and penalty-killing expertise that really set his game apart.
“It feels pretty good,” Zetterberg said in typical understated fashion. “It's been a long way. And it's been a long season, especially the last few nights. (We) found a way to battle back. It’s just a great feeling right now.”
Zetterberg joined with defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall to kill off a pair of two-man disadvantages in the Final, helping pave the way to victory in the series. Those sometimes get lost in the shuffle in a long series, but Wings coach Mike Babcock was always front and center in extolling the virtues of his top players.
“Him and Pavel and Nick and Rafi and Kronwall, they're all the same in a way,” Babcock said, ticking off the names of some prominent Wings. “Franzen as well. Maybe (Valtteri) Filppula. They're all our best offensive people and our best defensive people as well.
“We're fortunate,” he said after Zetterberg’s PK skills helped the Wings to a Game 4 win. “I thought the five-on-three, we had to get a stop there. We did. Zetterberg did a great job. Came off the ice. Pavel went out and did a great job. And they called a timeout. So Z was allowed to go back out there again.
“I think intelligent players with good hockey sense, you have a structure on your team,” Babcock said. “But they take the structure to another level, because they know what's going on.  They read plays. They cut off lanes. They know how to be in the right spot. And the guys who think offensively, in my opinion, have a chance to be elite defensive players, because they know what they do. And so that gets them to a whole other level. And they're conscientious, and they work hard, because they're good defensively. They spend a lot of time on offense.”
It’s hard to get a rise out of Zetterberg. He is low-key to the extreme, but that may well be another of his top assets. Killing off a two-man disadvantage in the first period of Game 6, Zetterberg was typically nonplussed.
“Well, of course it was huge,” Zetterberg said. “It's not the first time they had a two-minute advantage. Of course, it was a great opportunity for them to score. But we battled through it. And we kept the puck outside the net.”
Well, he did use the word “huge,” so maybe he’s starting to get revved up like some of his teammates.
Zetterberg figures there isn’t much to get overly excited about. Detroit’s success, after all, is the product of hard work and experience (we won’t mention his outrageous skills). But the Wings were at a critical stage of the Final entering Game 6. A loss to the Pens would have wiped out what had been a 3-1 edge and set up a winner-take-all Game 7. But Zetterberg figured that it wouldn’t be a problem because of the Wings’ experience.
“We've been there before,” he said. “We knew that even if we lost Game 5, we play good on the road. And we just had a mindset, we're going to play a good game. And we had a great start, and we just kept going. Kind of what we did in Dallas (in the Western Conference Finals). It's great to have that behind us, and we know we could pull it off. And we did.”
Everything in life should be so simple. But Zetterberg was far from dismissive of his foes in the Final. He and his teammates had great respect for the Penguins and the strong play they brought to the Final.
“They battled really hard,” he said. “They were down 3-1 and came to our building, and, I think, their first period in our arena was unbelievable. They just came at us. We really didn't have anything to answer it. But overall, I think they played really good.  They had some really skilled players. It's a young team, and they're going to be a good team for many years to come.”
The Red Wings’ triumph marked a big achievement for European players such as Lidstrom, who became the first European captain to raise the Stanley Cup, and Zetterberg, who took home the Conn Smythe.
“It’s a great feeling,” Zetterberg said. “There's been a lot of talk about that throughout the years. It's great see him lifting the Cup and with the ‘C’ on his chest. It means so much for the team and the organization. He's bringing it every night. He's probably our best player every night. And I'm really happy for him. And as I say, it was a great feeling seeing him lift that Cup.”
"Henrik, he's a complete player," Red Wings GM Ken Holland said. "He's got great hands, great instincts, he's great in traffic and he really sees the ice well. Over the years I've seen a lot of great players who don't work hard enough to be better. I always tell our scouts, 'Tell me when a smaller guy shows you he can do it and when a bigger guy shows you he can't.' It's clear Henrik always plays bigger than his size."
"He can pass and he can shoot at an elite level,” Lidstrom said. “That's what makes him so difficult to stop, because you don't know what he's going to do. Seeing that kind of skill coming at you again and again makes defenders back off and creates openings for his teammates."
Perhaps Babcock put it best.
"You're never going to outwork Hank, that's for sure," he said.
And once again the winning coach had the right idea.

Red Wings' Zetterberg wins Conn Smythe Trophy

NHL.com, June 4^th, 2008

Red Wings left wing Henrik Zetterberg has won the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to "the most valuable player to his team in the playoffs." The winner is selected in a vote by a panel of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final.

Zetterberg, a 27-year-old native of Njurunda, Sweden, was the 210th player selected in the 1999 Entry Draft and played his fifth season with the Red Wings in 2007-08. He finished the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs at or near the top of several categories:

* ranked first in points (13-14--27 in 22 games, placed ahead of Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby's 6-21--27 on the basis of more goals)
* ranked first in goals (13, tied with Detroit's Johan Franzen)
* ranked second in game-winning goals (four)
* ranked third in assists (14, tied with two players)
* ranked first in shorthanded goals (two, tied with three players)
* ranked first in shorthanded assists (three)
* ranked first in shots on goal (116)
* ranked first in plus-minus (+16, tied with Detroit's Niklas Kronwall)

In addition, Zetterberg's work on the Red Wings' penalty-killing unit kept Pittsburgh from scoring during five-on-three power plays for 1:26 late in the third period of Game 4 and 1:33 in the first period of tonight's game.

During the regular season, Zetterberg helped the Red Wings record the best opening half-season in League history by setting a franchise record with points in 17 consecutive games to start the season (13-14--27). He went on to set career highs in goals (43), assists (49) and points (92) in 75 games. He led the club and ranked second in the League with 358 shots and posted a career-best +30 rating.

 

June 4, NHLMedia.com:  From Mlive.com Snapshots

Question: What were your thoughts on killing the two-man penalty early, the two man advantage. How key was that to this game?

Henrik Zetterberg: Well, of course it was huge. It's not the first time they had a two-minute advantage. Of course, it was a great opportunity for them to score. But we battled through it.

And we kept the puck outside the net.

Question: What are your emotions winning that award next to you there?

Henrik Zetterberg: (Smiling) it feels pretty good. It's been a long way. And it's been a long season. Especially in the last few nights ago in Joe Louis was devastating. And found a way to battle back. And it's just a great feeling right now.

Question: Can you talk about the play of the Penguins. A lot of people didn't think they had a chance in the series. They made it an interesting one. What are your thoughts on how they played?

Henrik Zetterberg: Well, they battled really hard. They were down 3-1 and came to our building, and I think their first period in our arena was unbelievable. They just came at us.

We really didn't have anything to answer it. But overall, I think they played really good. They had some really skilled players. It's a young team, and they're going to be a good team for many years to come.

Question: Your fellow Swede, Nicklas Lidstrom, became the first European captain to win a Cup. What does that mean to you for him to have that place in hockey history?

Henrik Zetterberg: It's a great feeling. There's been a lot of talk about that throughout the years. It's great to see him lifting the Cup and with the C on his chest. It means so much for the team and the organization. He's bringing it every night. He's probably our best player every night.

And I'm really happy for him. And as I say, it was a great feeling seeing him lift that Cup.

Question: What was it about your team that made you guys be able to bounce back from that last loss, as you did in previous series, disappointing losses to come back and closeout series?

Henrik Zetterberg: We've been there before. We knew that even if we lost Game 5, we play good on the road. And we just had a mind-set, we're going to play a good game. And we had a great start, and we just kept going. Kind of what we did in Dallas. It's great to have that behind us, and we know we could pull it off. And we did.

Question: Historic night obviously with Lidstrom becoming the first European captain to win the Cup, but it's also the second time that a European has won the trophy sitting beside you there. Nicklas is the only other one who has won this. Can you talk about sharing your name with his on that trophy, I think with other 40 other Canadian players?

Henrik Zetterberg: Well, it's some great names on there. I didn't know Nicklas was the only European. Of course, it's special to be on there. And especially to be among such great players, and especially with Nick. It's great to have that with him.

Question: Can you talk a little bit about, I know you were brought in 2002 during the Cup run, during the Colorado series. Can you talk a little bit about seeing that group, and obviously this is your first time since then, and what that put in your mind at an early age?

Henrik Zetterberg: Well, it was a great experience. It was me and Niklas Kronwall. They brought us over here. We saw two games against the Avalanche, and it was real high, high speed in the game. And both me and Nik didn't realize that we were able to play there next year. We were really...it was a little bit too fast for our game, but it was a great experience. We met all the guys.

And I remember I went down and met Steve and Nick and Draper and Homer and a few others. So it was a great experience. It was good for me to have when I came for training camp.

Question: There in the last minute and a half when Hossa scored, and then they had that real frantic ending there where they almost scored there at the last second, was there any time you guys were thinking: My God, here we go again. This is just like Game 5?

Henrik Zetterberg: Yeah, you know, we were happy we had the two-goal lead. But when they scored the second one, we knew it was going to be tight all the way to the end.

And when they had a chance, I don't know how many seconds was left, but when I saw the puck behind the net, and I looked up and it was 00:00 on the game clock, I was a pretty happy man.

Question: What a goal you scored. That was a Stanley Cup winning goal, thrill of a lifetime. Well done. How did you do it?

Henrik Zetterberg: Thank you. It's been unbelievable, the whole series. It's tough when we lost the last game. But we battled through that and came back today and played unbelievable.

Question: What do you remember, Henrik, about the game tonight, the pregame when you and Datsyuk met just in the room before the game, what kinds of things were you saying to yourself to get energy, to get faith?

Henrik Zetterberg: Well, just keep going, do the right things out there. And not try and do too much. Just go out and play our game and hopefully it was enough. And it was tonight.

Question: 210th draft choice. Is it true that Darren McCarty ran you ragged as you came to your first the training camp? Is that just a myth or did they really test you, and how did you establish yourself as the star you've become?

Henrik Zetterberg: Yeah, I had a tough first training camp. Ran me over a few times, but right after the camp he came and apologized and said Ken Holland told him to do it. So it was okay.

 

Zetterberg Tops Off Memorable Season, King of 5-on-3 Penalty Kill Awarded Conn Smythe.

By Dave Dye, The Detroit News, June 5^th, 2008

 

Years from now, when the Red Wings' 2008 Stanley Cup Championship is being relived, they'll still be talking about "The 5-on-3."

It was Game 4 with the Red Wings clinging to a 2-1 lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins and two men in the penalty box.

Henrik Zetterberg, the 210th player selected overall in the 1999 NHL draft, showed what a two-way superstar he has become by making some of the series' most memorable plays that led to him being voted the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the Finals' most valuable player.

Zetterberg nullified the stick of the Penguins' Sidney Crosby at the side of the crease on what otherwise might have been a tap-in to tie the score.

Not only that, but Zetterberg also personally killed off about 15 seconds by controlling the puck himself.

"I think that really summed up everything about Henrik," teammate Kirk Maltby said of Zetterberg's defensive heroics. "He was out there on a 5-on-3, blocking shots, killing the clock on the penalties.

It was a crucial sequence that helped put the Wings on the verge of the Stanley Cup. Zetterberg helped clinch the championship Wednesday night with a goal and assist in a 3-2 victory over the Penguins in Game 6, along with killing another 5-on-3.

Zetterberg said he didn't hear the announcement of him winning the Conn Smythe.

"The guys pushed me to it," Zetterberg said. "I wasn't sure what to do with it. I skated around a little bit first and then I took it back (to his teammates, who mobbed him). I guess that was the right way to go."

Zetterberg, 27, a forward from Sweden, led the Wings with 27 points in the playoffs. He also set career highs during the regular season with 43 goals and 92 points. He capped his memorable season Wednesday with The Stanley Cup.

"Unbelievable. It's a great feeling you have inside right now," he said of winning the Cup. "It's been a long way. It was a tough ending in Detroit a few nights ago. It was devastating, but we found a way to battle back."

Zetterberg showed in these playoffs he's an offensive superstar.

Then there's the defensive star. Zetterberg, along with Pavel Datsyuk, is a finalist for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the league's top defensive forward.

Zetterberg takes great pride in his defensive ability.

"That's always been a part of my game," he said. "In Sweden, you learn to play defense first. And then you develop the offense later.

"I'm happy I still can play that game over here and I get an opportunity to play that way. I like to do that."

His teammates certainly appreciate his two-way skills.

"That's where he stands out from other superstars in this league," forward Johan Franzen said. "You don't see other superstars do that. Not a lot of them anyway. That makes him real special.

"When your best players are playing like that, you don't want to do anything different."

Crosby has been hyped as "the face of the game," but Zetterberg hounded him for much of the series.

Not bad for the quiet guy overlooked as a seventh-round pick nearly a decade ago.

"I was a real small guy," Zetterberg said, referring to why he wasn't drafted earlier. "I didn't have a lot of muscles on me. Not many scouts were looking for small, tiny players. They looked for big guys that could be big in front of the net and have a good shot. My shot was awful. It's still not very good.

"Letting me play in Sweden for a while helped (three more years after being drafted). I got a lot of experience there.

"When I came over here (he joined the Wings in 2002-03), I was ready to play. It helped to play with good players. My first year, I played with Pavel and Brett Hull most of my games. It makes it a lot easier."

Zetterberg is now known for his great vision on the ice and an uncanny anticipation of where the puck is going.

He's certainly more talkative than when he first joined the Wings, but he's still pretty quiet, according to teammates.

"Guys that are a little bit more quiet, they lead by example," teammate Darren McCarty said. "That's what he does."

And he's done it as well as anyone in the playoffs this year.

 

Red Wings' Zetterberg Wins Conn Smythe Trophy

By Graham Couch, Kalamazoo Gazette, June 4th, 2008

 

Henrik Zetterberg sat at the podium next to the Conn Smythe Trophy, grinning when asked about the emotions of the moment.

However, the comments from the Red Wings forward, it turned out, had almost nothing to do with being named playoff MVP.

Within minutes, the Conn Smythe sat alone on a bench in a corner of the Detroit locker room, surrounded by flying corks, boisterous players and folks soaked in champagne.

Zetterberg, like the rest of his teammates, had turned his attention to the Stanley Cup following Wednesday's 3-2 Game 6 victory over Pittsburgh.

"It's been a long way, and it's been a long season," Zetterberg had said moments earlier, ignoring the mammoth piece of hardware covering one side of his face. "Especially a few nights ago at Joe Louis Arena was devastating. ... It's just a great feeling right now."

Zetterberg's 22-game playoff run put him in the company of Red Wings greats such as Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov -- and, statistically, in a class above them both.

The 27-year-old Swede broke the club's mark for playoff points (24) previously shared by Fedorov (1995) and Yzerman (1998) with 27 this spring, adding two more Wednesday night with his 13th goal and 14th assist.

"He's been our best player, I think, on both ends of the ice," said his countryman and Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom. "You see him out there killing penalties 5-on-3, and you see him at the other end setting plays from the power play. He's just that impact player. ... He's really excelled and got better and better as the playoffs went along."

Wednesday, Zetterberg once again showed his versatility. His backhanded pass to Brian Rafalski set up the game's first score. And later, his shot that squeaked under Marc-Andre Fleury's legs -- and then got a push from Fleury's bottom -- turned out to be the decisive goal.

On the other end, just like the 5-on-3 power-play-killing effort in Game 4 that NBC's Mike Emerick called "a Conn Smythe shift," Zetterberg again helped derail Pittsburgh's only two-man advantage Wednesday.

"Someone said to me here earlier, 'You turned your best offensive players into checkers,'" Detroit coach Mike Babcock said when asked about Zetterberg. "I never did that. They're just very good both ways.

"Zetterberg and Pavel (Datsyuk) are two of the best players in the world."

Datsyuk is locked up long-term and, this summer, the Red Wings are expected to do the same with Zetterberg, who has one year left on his contract at $2.9 million. His new deal is reported to be anywhere from five to seven years for around $7 million per season.

That's the next step in a career that received a kick six years ago when Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall were brought in to meet Yzerman and Co. on their way to a Stanley Cup.

"It was a little too fast for our game," Zetterberg said of the 2002 Red Wings.

Nob