Zetterberg Not Letting Anyone
Down
By Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, June 4,
2009
Despite the Detroit
Red Wings 2nd period collapse tonight and 4-2 losses in
games 3 and 4, Henrik Zetterberg has not been a let down. In the
series tying defeats, Zetterberg has a goal, two assists, and is a
+1. When he is on the ice (at even strength), Evgeni Malkin and
Sidney Crosby are kept off the scoreboard for the most part.
The Wings have been
unable to stop the Penguins on the power-play and it is killing
them. Zetterberg is playing over 20 minutes a game, and is appearing
to get worn down by his efforts shutting down Pittsburgh’s
stars. Detroit desperately needs injured
center Pavel Datsyuk back in game 5.
With his three points
in the past two games, Z has moved up to 3rd in playoffs points with 22,
behind only Malkin (35) and Crosby (31). He won’t be catching them.
Zetterberg is 5th amongst goal scorers with 10 goals, and
5th on the assists leaders list with 12. Henrik is
2nd to only linemate Dan Cleary (+17) with a +13.
Zetterberg has now
moved into a tie with Norm Ullman and Brendan Shanahan for 9th place on the Red Wings All-time Playoff
Scoring Leaders list with 38 goals and 36 assists for 74
total points in 82 career post-season games.
Henrik Zetterberg Overused, Wings' Mike Babcock
Says
By Joe Starkey, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June
3rd, 2009
Even though the
Stanley Cup Finals changed venues for Game 3, and his team did not
have the last line change, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock really,
really wanted to keep center Henrik Zetterberg glued to Penguins
captain Sidney Crosby.
To that end,
Zetterberg frequently double-shifted and played 24:19, his highest
total in any non-overtime playoff game. A day later, Babcock said
that was probably too much playing time, preferring to use
Zetterberg for "22 or 23" minutes.
Do-it-all Zetterberg wearing down for Red
Wings
By Larry Lage, Associated Press, June 4th,
2009
The Detroit Red Wings
ask Henrik Zetterberg to do it all.
It seems to be taking
a toll.
The superstar simply
looked tired at times Thursday night, getting beat to loose pucks
and not skating as hard or fast as usual, and the Pittsburgh
Penguins took advantage with a 4-2 series-evening win in Game 4 of
the Stanley Cup finals.
The Red Wings hoped to
give Zetterberg some relief from needing to score, hit, play on
power plays and kill penalties with the return of Pavel
Datsyuk.
But the much-needed
help did not arrive because Datsyuk was scratched because of a foot
injury, sidelining him for the sixth straight
game.
As the Penguins took
the game over — with three goals in a 5 1/2-minute span of the
second period — Zetterberg helped them out on the final
score.
Tyler Kennedy beat
Zetterberg to a loose puck, Kennedy passed it to Chris Kunitz, who
got it to Sidney Crosby before Kennedy finished the bang-bang-bang
play by firing the puck to the back of the net for a 4-2
lead.
When Detroit beat Pittsburgh and hoisted the Stanley
Cup last year, Zetterberg was its best player and won playoff MVP
honors.
If the Red Wings are
going to respond to losing their 2-0 lead in the series, the Swede
will have to deliver again.
Without Datsyuk, there's no rest for weary
Zetterberg
By Mitch Albom, Free Press, June 4th,
2009
There's a buzz that
Pavel Datsyuk might return to the ice tonight. Good. He can bring an
oxygen tank for Henrik Zetterberg.
No one has felt
Datsyuk's absence more than Zetterberg, who is left to be 1) the
blanket over Sidney Crosby ,
2) the magic man of playmaking, 3) an integral part of the power
play and penalty kill and 4) the inspirational youthful leader in
the locker room.
After that, he cures
world hunger.
I'm surprised he
hasn't changed it to Zzzzzzzzetterberg.
"Hey," he said,
laughing Wednesday, "I'm just happy to get the ice
time."
Ice time is not the
issue. In fact, Hank is one of the few guys who might give back some
ice time. He has been playing marathon minutes and marathon shifts
-- 24:19 minutes and 31 shifts in Tuesday night's 4-2 Game 3 loss at
Pittsburgh. Every time Crosby thinks about jumping the boards,
Zetterberg is halfway over. Actually, his beard goes over first. A
second later, he follows.
"Yeah, basically
that's what we've been doing," Zetterberg admitted of his glove-like
approach to Crosby. "He's a very
skilled guy. He works real hard; that's the toughest part. You have
to match his intensity. You have to be on the right side all the
time. But I get good help from Mule (Johan Franzen) and Dan
Cleary."
And maybe a triple
espresso.
Struggling to kill
penalties
Now, it's hard enough
to ask Zetterberg to be Peter Pan's shadow. But the Red Wings
without Datsyuk -- and with Marian Hossa spinning more than he's
scoring -- need Zetterberg for offense as well. He scored the first
goal Tuesday night and set up Franzen for the second. To this point,
you'd have to say Zetterberg has outplayed Crosby.
But you might have to
wake him to say it.
"Doesn't your offense
suffer when you have to expend all that energy chasing Sidney?" I
asked.
"Well, it's harder if
you don't start with the puck and are chasing it for half a minute,"
he said. "It goes a lot easier if you win the face-off and have
possession."
What he means is, it's
easier to have possession when you have the same number of skaters
as the other team. Forget the ridiculous six men on the ice stretch
for Pittsburgh that went unnoticed by
the refs in Game 3. It was the penalty killing that did the Wings
in. They couldn't get out of their own end.
"Yeah, that's the
thing," Zetterberg said. "The whole year we've been struggling with
the penalty kill. At the end of season, we got a lot better, but
still in the playoffs almost every game we've been letting one in.
Also, you can't forget we're playing good players. ... If they're in
your end for a long time, they will find a way to
score."
I likened it to a
pinball. Eventually, as long as the machine is tilted down, no
matter how much you hit the flippers, that ball is gonna
drop.
Zetterberg laughed.
"Good comparison."
And then he nodded
off.
A battle of the
superstars
No. That was just to
see if you're paying attention. Actually, Zetterberg was
surprisingly upbeat, considering the Wings blew a great chance to
stuff the Penguins and ensure a Cup the night before. But then,
Zetterberg is pretty unflappable. Here's a guy who is a far bigger
star in Sweden
than Crosby is in America, yet he willingly
and without comment slips into a defensive posture on the NHL's biggest
stage. It's as if Kobe told LeBron, "You do the dunks
and stuff, I'm just going to try to stop you."
Zetterberg deserves
double credit for what he has done without Datsyuk to help shoulder
the load. These two are the Mick and Keith of the Wings. Life would
be much easier -- especially on the power plays -- if No. 40 could
see No. 13 out there.
"Yeah, we really miss
Pav," he said. "If he plays that will be a huge
help."
Last year, Zetterberg
led the Wings to the Stanley Cup, and was rewarded with the playoff
MVP trophy. So far, Chris Osgood leads this year's conversation, but
I have a feeling before this series is over, Mr. Zzzzzz will be
right in there.
And if he should win
it, they ought to put a few asterisks
alongside.
* did it without
Datsyuk.
* did it with a
nine-pound beard.
Detroit's Zetterberg turns attention to
Crosby
By Tricia Lafferty,
Pittsburgh Tribune, June 2, 2009
The statistics
indicate Detroit center Henrik Zetterberg,
the 2008 playoffs MVP, has been unusually quiet in this Stanley Cup
Final.
His success can be
better measured on the Penguins' score sheets — more specifically,
by looking at captain Sidney Crosby's numbers.
Zetterberg has
silenced Crosby through the first
two games of this Final.
"This is his standard
right here," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "I
believe he has a will tank deeper than anybody I've ever been
associated with. As much as all the other attributes he has, to me,
that's his greatest one. His drive train is
fantastic."
The sixth-year Red
Wings center has sacrificed his offensive game to pay more attention
to Crosby, who has recorded no points and a minus-1 rating.
Zetterberg is a plus-2, proving the emphasis on his defensive game
to be well worth it.
The Crosby-Bill
Guerin-Chris Kunitz line, which has been one of the most offensively
productive units since it was formed in early March, has been shut
down this series by the line Zetterberg centers with Johan Franzen
and Dan Cleary.
Despite recording just
an assist this series, Zetterberg ranks second on the Red Wings this
postseason with 19 points and nine goals. The Red Wings'
second-leading scorer during the regular season (73 points)
understands that Crobsy's Final numbers might be more important than
his offensive contributions.
"I think as a
centerman, when you're growing up in Sweden that's how you're taught to
play," said Zetterberg, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy after sharing
the playoffs scoring lead with Crosby last year. "It starts with the good
defense and it'll lead to offense. That's one thing I've always been
trained to do, and I've been lucky enough to get that role over
here, too."
Not many players would
consider themselves lucky when given the unpleasant assignment of
following Crosby around on the ice,
but Zetterberg accepted the role of shadowing the Penguins star
without complaint. It's no wonder Zetterberg was the runner-up to
teammate Pavel Datsyuk - who has yet to play this series because of
a foot injury — for the NHL's Selke Trophy as the NHL's top
defensive forward.
"You've got different
roles and different situations, and this one is for sure a
challenge," Zetterberg said. "It's fun, and I'm trying to make the
best of it."
Zetterberg is doing an
even better job of making Crosby's
life miserable these past few days. Slowing Crosby has been no easy task, considering the
tear he was on this postseason. Heading into this series, Crosby was tied with teammate Evgeni Malkin
for the NHL lead in points (28). He ranked first overall with 14
goals, and was on pace to break the league record for postseason
goals set by the Philadelphia Flyers' Reggie Leach, who scored 19 in
1976.
Since recording 12
points in the six games leading up to the Final, with at least a
point in every game, Crosby hasn't
been able to get going. The Red Wings have Zetterberg to thank for
that.
"Hank does the same
thing in the playoffs every year: He plays against the other team's
best center and does well," Detroit goalie Chris Osgood said.
"Hank's been getting his chances and, obviously, Sidney is
getting his chances. They're both great players. They both play each
other hard. It's good for the league and the fans to see these two
go head-to-head, especially in big games like the
Finals."
Henrik Zetterberg Shutting Down
Penguins Star Sidney Crosby Again
By Ansar Khan, Mlive.com, June 02,
2009
Whether he is weaving
through traffic with the puck seemingly stuck to his stick or
relentlessly hounding an opponent on the back-check, Henrik
Zetterberg never stops.
"I
believe he has a will tank deeper than anybody I've ever been
associated with," Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "As
much as all the other attributes he has, to me, that's his greatest
one. His drive train is fantastic."
Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby
discovered that last year in the Stanley Cup finals. Now, he is
experiencing it again, as his Penguins face a 2-0 deficit heading
into Game 3 tonight at Mellon Arena.
Crosby failed to register a
point in the first two games, in large part to Zetterberg's
tenacious defensive effort. That is no small feat considering
Crosby leads the NHL with 14
playoff goals and ranks second with 28 points.
It is the kind of
resolve teammates have come to expect from Zetterberg. Captain
Nicklas Lidstrom said he is just as competitive in golf and tennis.
And Zetterberg also is said to be an exceptional poker
player.
"He comes back at you
shift after shift. He's not going to back down or let you take
over," Lidstrom said. "That's one of the things that makes him so
hard to play against, because he'll play like that defensively. But
when he has the puck, he's going to hang onto it and make
plays.
"He's one of those
guys that's going to show up every night."
Watching Zetterberg is
inspirational for a young player such as Darren
Helm.
"You see when he's
dead tired, he's still working to get back defensively," Helm said.
"I just look at that and try to take a piece of it, how hard he
works.
"I definitely respect
what he does, putting up points and shutting down top lines as
well."
Crosby has had some good
chances. During one sequence in Game 2 on Sunday, he banged a shot
off the goal post and then fired the puck into Zetterberg, who was
sprawled out in the crease.
But it will difficult
for the Penguins to get back in this series without Crosby's production.
"(Crosby) hasn't got any points or goals, but
he's creating a lot of chances, so he's doing a lot of good things,"
Zetterberg said. "Just have to play tight on him. Still, he will
find a way to get chances."
Like last year,
Crosby and fellow star Evgeni
Malkin were dominant in the first three rounds of the playoffs
against defensively flawed Eastern Conference clubs, only to have
their time and space limited by the Red Wings in the
finals.
Crosby, who chased
after Zetterberg at the end of Game 4 last year, has delivered a few
cross-checks in this series. Malkin, who has a goal and an assist,
instigated a fight with Zetterberg near the end of Game
2.
Could they be
unraveling? Crosby did not address the media in Pittsburgh on
Monday.
"I don't know if it's
frustration, or what it is," Zetterberg said. "They're playing hard,
there's a lot of emotion, it comes out in different
ways."
Kunitz said of
Zetterberg's line: "They're big bodies. They go to the net hard.
They're good on faceoffs and scrums around the faceoff
circles."
Last year's Conn
Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP, Zetterberg surprisingly was not
as strong during the regular season. He has made up for it in the
playoffs.
"This is his standard
right here," Babcock said.
Lidstrom first
witnessed Zetterberg's dogged determination when they were teammates
for Sweden at the
2002 Olympics, several months before they became teammates in
Detroit.
"He's one of the best
all-around players in the league, the way he can play at both ends
of the ice," Lidstrom said. "He's hard to play against. He's not
going to give up. He's going to be close to you all the
time."
Henrik Zetterberg next in line for the 'C,'
another Conn Smythe?
By Helene
St. James, Free Press, June 2, 2009
When he was 13 years
old, Henrik Zetterberg traveled with his dad and a buddy to
Ornskoldsvik in Sweden to see a young
hockey star play in the finals of the Swedish Elite
League.
Zetterberg had seats
in the end zone, fortuitously enough right behind team Malmo's net as
the game went into overtime. That put Zetterberg in perfect position
when Modo's premier center scored to put his team one victory from
the title.
The scorer was Peter
Forsberg, who later dominated in the NHL .
It was one of many experiences that helped shape Zetterberg and
forged in him the understanding of what it means to be a great
player.
"It was a lot of fun,"
Zetterberg said Monday. "There was a lot of hype about the game, and
it lived up to it."
At 28, Zetterberg is
an established dominant star himself in the NHL. He has done so by
never forgetting the defensive skills he learned as a center growing
up in his native Sweden and by learning
from sitting next to former captain Steve Yzerman in the Red Wings'
locker room.
Like Forsberg and
Yzerman, Zetterberg is a complete player, as good in his zone as he
is in the opponent's, as swift handling the puck as he is shadowing
fellow stars. He has been all over Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby ,
holding Crosby without a point and lifting Detroit to a
2-0 lead entering tonight's Game 3 of the Stanley Cup
finals.
"Z is one of the best
both-ways in the league," teammate Marian Hossa said. "He's doing
tremendous job this series. He's a smart player, always in the right
position."
That's because he has
been doing it since he was a teenager. Christer Jonasson of Swedish
Radio has covered Zetterberg since he was 18 and playing for Timra
IK in Sweden's second-tier
league.
"There was something
special with him -- silent, looking down, but there was just hockey
in his eyes," Jonasson said. "He was a step further even (compared)
to the players that had a lot more
experience."
Jonasson also has seen
Zetterberg off the ice, and apparently sometimes Zetterberg's hands
fail him. "A friend of mine was selling new phones and wanted to
give one to Henrik," Jonasson said. "I handed it to Henrik and he
kept if for a long, long time. ... I think he had it for 2 hours and
20 minutes before he lost it."
The Wings stole
Zetterberg with the 210th overall pick in the 1999 draft. He joined
Detroit in 2002, became an
alternate captain in 2006 and signed a 12-year extension this
season. He's the obvious successor to wear the captain's C when
Nicklas Lidstrom retires and likely to repeat as the playoff MVP
should the Wings repeat.
"Z always does
everything," goalie Chris Osgood said. "He's our leader and will be
for years to come.
Zetterberg even fought
at the end of Game 2 when challenged by Evgeni Malkin, though
admittedly, "It wasn't much of a fight," Zetterberg said. The point
is, whatever the Wings need him to do, Zetterberg
does.
"I believe he has a
will tank deeper than anybody I've ever been associated with," coach
Mike Babcock said. "As much as all the other attributes he has, to
me that's his greatest one. His drivetrain is
fantastic."
Henrik Zetterberg Gives Wings Zip on
Defense
By Kevin Allen,
USA Today, June 2,
2009
Although Detroit Red
Wings center Henrik Zetterberg is
the fifth-leading scorer in the NHL playoffs, it is grit more than
it is goals that has made him valuable this
postseason.
The most memorable
images of Zetterberg in the playoffs are of him diving into the
crease to cover a loose puck behind Chris Osgood or
swatting away a puck off his goalie's back. Then there's the image
of him skating shoulder-to-shoulder next to Pittsburgh Penguins
captain Sidney Crosby as they
flew up the ice like racecars dueling on the
backstretch.
"I believe he has a
'will tank' deeper than anybody I've been associated with,"
Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.
"His drivetrain is fantastic."
Zetterberg matched up
defensively against Columbus Blue Jackets winger Rick Nash in the first
round and against the Anaheim Ducks' big center Ryan Getzlaf in the
second. In the Finals, he's been checking Crosby, who has no points
in two games. Zetterberg has been Detroit's neutralizer in the
postseason.
"He is always
competitive. You see that every time he is out there," Detroit
captain Nicklas Lidstrom said.
"He's trying to stay calm out there, but he keeps coming at you
shift after shift. He's not going to let you take
over."
Zetterberg had his
first career fight in Game 2, forced to defend himself against Evgeni
Malkin.
Although Zetterberg's
performance isn't surprising, it is noteworthy.
As Babcock puts it, "Z
didn't have a big-time year. But this is his standard right
now."
Red Wing's Zetterberg in Line for Second
Straight Conn Smythe
By Michael Traikos, The National Post, June 2,
2009
The beard is big and
bushy.
It has been growing for months. And it would need to
be trimmed with scissors before shaving off. Without question, it is
the facial hair of a proven playoff performer.
Henrik
Zetterberg, whose baby face is hiding behind all those whiskers,
knows full well what it takes to win.
The Red Wings forward
won the Conn Smythe Trophy last year. And
with nine goals and 19 points in 18 playoff games, he is in line to
become the first player since Mario Lemieux (1991-92) to win the
back-to-back MVP awards.
But Zetterberg's point production is
not the reason why he is a prime candidate for the Conn
Smythe.
The slick-skating Swede, who has a plus-12 rating,
has tagged around the opposition's top players like an annoying kid
brother. In the first two games of the Stanley Cup final against the
Pittsburgh Penguins, he shadowed Sidney Crosby so closely around the
ice that Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber remarked Zetterberg
"could have guessed Crosby's
toothpaste brand." As a result, the Penguins captain was held off
the score sheet for both games.
"Z is one of the best
both-ways in the league," Marian Hossa told the Detroit Free Press.
"He's doing tremendous job this series. He's a smart player, always
in the right position."
With 39-year-old captain Nicklas
Lidstrom getting closer to retirement and Zetterberg having recently
signed a 12-year contract to remain in Detroit, the
two-way forward could become the next Red Wings to wear the
"C."
"Z always does everything," goaltender Chris Osgood told
the Detroit Free Press. "He's our leader and will be for years to
come."
Zetterberg Driving Pens' Crosby to
Distraction
By John Niyo, Detnews.com, June 1st,
2009
Sidney Crosby can't
shake Henrik Zetterberg, no matter how hard he tries in this Stanley
Cup Finals.
Shadowed all over the
ice by the Wings' two-way whiz, Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins'
star, finally found himself alone in front of the net with a prime
scoring chance early in the third period of Game 2.
He fired once past
Chris Osgood and watched the puck carom off the far post and across
the goal mouth back to him. Crosby, the NHL leader with 14 playoff
goals, took another swipe at it, and was robbed on a sprawling save
by ... Zetterberg?
Of course. Who else
would you expect? With Osgood out of position, the Swede went diving
to the ice to preserve a 2-1 lead 1:39 into the period.
Crosby, with 28 points this
postseason, was held off the score sheet only twice in his first 17
playoff games this spring.
"There's tons of
explanations, but the fact is you get quick chances and either you
put them in or you don't," Crosby
said in a quiet visitors' dressing room. "And that's the
difference."
Clearly, though, the
Wings are treating Crosby
differently, blanketing him defensively. Zetterberg is breathing
down his neck almost every time he jumps over the boards, and
there's a second forward plus a defenseman converging on Crosby nearly every time he touches the puck
across the red line.
If he had trouble
sleeping Saturday night, it's understandable: Zetterberg was
probably snoring loudly underneath his bed. Or at least phoning his
hotel room every hour, on the hour.
"It's a challenge, for
sure," Crosby admitted. "There's no
doubt there's a healthy competition out there."
It had to be a sick
feeling for him, though, didn't it? Watching Zetterberg, for the
second straight night, smothering a puck inches from the goal line?
Saturday, Crosby lobbied for a
penalty shot after Zetterberg covered a loose puck resting on
Osgood's back in the crease. Sunday, the reigning Conn Smythe winner
might've gotten away with another illegal glove save -- at least the
way Crosby saw it.
"He was pretty deep
behind him -- it was pretty close," Crosby said of the would-be tying goal.
"It was hard to see. I
thought (Zetterberg) covered it, I really do. It was a tough call
for the refs to make."
And another tough
night for Sid the Kid. But in Detroit, that's all he knows.
Giving His
All
By Bob Wojnowski, Detnews.com, June 1st,
2009
That was Zetterberg in
the closing seconds, protecting his goaltender by shoving aside
Penguins. Then Malkin came flying in, throwing punches, and there it
was, Zetterberg and Malkin flailing away. It was the perfect picture
that Zetterberg is willing to do whatever it takes, and the perfect
picture that the Penguins are flustered by what the Wings are
tossing at them.
You can only imagine
how annoyed Malkin and Crosby must be, because they sure are getting
their chances.
Naturally, Zetterberg
is doing everything. And by everything, I mean he even served as a
de-facto goaltender, diving into the crease to smother a Crosby shot that could have tied the game in
the third period.
"I didn't really see
what happened, but Z always does everything," Osgood said. "He's our
leader. At the end, that was nothing, just two good teams that are
battling each other and will do anything to win."
