June 2009

Zetterberg Not Letting Anyone Down

By Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, June 4, 2009

Despite the Detroit Red Wings 2^nd 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 3^rd in playoffs points with 22, behind only Malkin (35) and Crosby (31). He won’t be catching them. Zetterberg is 5^th amongst goal scorers with 10 goals, and 5^th on the assists leaders list with 12. Henrik is 2^nd to only linemate Dan Cleary (+17) with a +13.

Zetterberg has now moved into a tie with Norm Ullman and Brendan Shanahan for 9^th 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 3^rd, 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 4^th, 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.

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 1^st, 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 1^st, 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."