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Selke and Conn Smythe Trophy Candidate
Zetterberg Shuts-down Penguins Superstars
during Crucial Moment in Game 4 of Stanley Cup
Finals
By
Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, May 31st,
2008
The Detroit Red Wings won a hard-fought 2-1 victory
over the Pittsburgh Penguins on the road tonight at the Mellon Arena
to take a 3-games-to-1 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals
series. And
while Henrik Zetterberg did not record any points for the second
straight game away from home, he was undeniably critical to the
team’s success, no more so than while playing shorthanded on a
5-on-3 power play for the Penguins for 1:27 with a one-goal lead
halfway through the third period.
During that long two-man advantage for Pittsburgh,
Zetterberg showed why he is a Selke Trophy candidate as one of the
very best defensive forwards in the NHL. He applied tremendous
pressure keeping the puck out of the slot and blocked a shot by
Penguin’s star defenseman Sergei Gonchar from the point. A few
seconds later he tied up superstar Sidney Crosby near the crease as
a pass came through the paint in front of Detroit’s
goalie Chris Osgood. Using shear strength Henrik pinned Crosby’s stick and forced him down on the ice
at the side of the net, not allowing him to get position in front.
Next, while still two men down, he took a face-off against Crosby,
deflected a pass by Evgeni Malkin, picked up the puck and carried it
into Pittsburgh’s zone, and created a
scoring opportunity with a backhanded shot off of a spin-move he put
on Gonchar. Zetterberg finished the shift by racing back down the
ice with the Penguin’s attackers and tipping Crosby’s pass intended for Gonchar, who was
wide-open in the left face-off circle, into the corner. He knocked
Sidney to the ice one more time
before lying down in front of another shot to end the power-play. I
have never seen a better shift by a player in my life.
Of
course, both Zetterberg and Crosby downplayed the Swede’s dominance
on the shift.
“We played good and tried to keep them to the outside
and tried to be in the shooting lanes,” said Zetterberg.
Crosby said, “He made a good
play on me and got my stick. He just did a good job of trying to get
a stick in the lane. I don’t think he did anything out of the
ordinary besides any other guy would do on a
5-on-3.”
However, Red Wings Head Coach Mike Babcock had hefty
praise for his primary penalty-killing forward. “I thought
Zetterberg was fantastic. (Zetterberg and Datsuk) are just gifted
players and when they compete as hard as they did tonight they win a
lot of battles. I’ve been telling people for three years how good
Zetterberg is. So, this isn’t a surprise to me. He’s conscientious
and a great two-way player,” said Babcock.
Zetterberg
is one point behind Crosby’s 24
points to lead all players in the Stanley Cup
playoffs and both are considered strong candidates for
the Conn Smythe Trophy (awarded to the MVP of the payoffs). Henrik
has 12 goals and 11 assists and has a league-leading +16
(plus/minus) in 20 games played this post-season. “Sid the Kid” has
just 6 goals but has 17 assists. But, Crosby is only a +6 in 18 games played.
Tonight was Zetterberg’s 60th career
playoff game in five post-seasons with Detroit. He
currently has 27 goals and 21 assists for 48 career points. Hank
ranks 15th on the Red
Wing’s All-time Playoff Scoring Leaders list, and is just
two points behind Hall-of-Fame defenseman Paul Coffey and only three
points behind line mate Pavel Datsyuk in 20 less career playoff
games.
Zetterberg Paced Game-saving
Shift
By
John Niyo, The Detroit News, May 31,
2008
It
may have been the shift that secured the Stanley Cup.
And if it was, then it has to be the shift that
guaranteed Henrik Zetterberg the Conn Smythe Trophy.
A
terrific individual effort by Zetterberg highlighted a game-saving
penalty kill in the third period of Saturday's Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Clinging to a 2-1 lead, and already playing
shorthanded, the Wings' Andreas Lilja was whistled for an
interference penalty on Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby with
9:50 left. That gave the Penguins 1:26 of 5-on-3 power-play time, a
prime opportunity to tie the game -- and possibly the series as
well.
But the Wings' stars -- politely scolded by their
coach after Game 3 -- made sure that didn't happen. And Zetterberg,
as he has all season, led the way.
"They had a great opportunity to tie it up,"
Zetterberg said. "And it's a challenge to play against such good
players, especially when you're down two guys -- they have a lot of
room. You practice a lot on it during the year, and it's fun to have
a chance to do it in a game."
He
certainly had fun Saturday night.
Zetterberg tied up Crosby's stick as the Penguins' captain -- the
two are tied for the playoff scoring lead -- was poised for what
appeared to be an uncontested, point-blank chance at the right post.
"He made a good play on me, got my stick," Crosby said.
"I
felt pretty good, I had good legs," said Zetterberg, who logged
23:12 of ice time Saturday, including more than four minutes
shorthanded. "I think our line played a little better today than we
did last game. We tried to shoot a little bit more and spend a
little more time in their end. We wanted to play good defense, and I
think we did that. And with that, we create some offense."
Even down two skaters, amazingly. On that same 5-on-3
power play, Zetterberg forced a turnover near the blue line by
Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins' Hart Trophy finalist, and chased down
the puck to create a shorthanded breakaway. Zetterberg managed to
put a whirling backhand shot on net, then chased down the rebound to
kill even more time off the clock.
"I
was thinking of lacrosse at that time," Wings coach Mike Babcock
said. "I always hear my son's coach yelling when they're shorthanded
to get a hold of it and hang onto it. That's what (Zetterberg) was
doing.
"They're just gifted players, and when they compete as
hard as they did tonight, they win a lot of battles. But, you know,
I've been telling people for three years how good Zetterberg is. And
so this isn't a surprise to me."
Crosby, who scored two goals in Wednesday's Game 3
win, was limited to two shots on goal in 22:39 of ice time Saturday.
Afterward, he had little patience for the media's attention to
Zetterberg's third-period effort -- "I don't think he did anything
out of the ordinary," Crosby said
-- and he even had to be separated from Zetterberg, yelling after
the final horn.
Asked what Crosby was
upset about, Zetterberg said, "I don't know. I couldn't hear him. I
think he was a little frustrated."
The Wings -- and Zetterberg -- certainly have had a
lot to do with that.
Babcock Watches as Wings Grow
Up
By Bob Wojnowski,
Detroit News, May 30th,
2008
On Thursday, with an
extra day off, (Mike) Babcock was in a humorous mood more than a
hammering mood. He was taking his team to a resort outside of
Pittsburgh, in lieu of another
practice, to get it away from hockey. Mud baths with cucumber slices
on the eyes? No one was saying.
But Babcock also had a
pointed message for his top players. In the process, he showed why a
good relationship between coach and star, especially between Babcock
and Henrik Zetterberg, is so important, and why ego rarely is an
issue on this team.
Even before the Wings
lost to Pittsburgh 3-2, Babcock had been
bothered by the work of his top power-play unit -- Zetterberg, Pavel
Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski. He
also was upset Zetterberg's group stayed on the ice longer than the
standard 35-second shifts Wednesday night, sapping their
effectiveness.
The Wings have been
terrific in the postseason, with Zetterberg arguably their best
player. But in three games against the Penguins, they're two-for-19
on the power play.
So on a day for
relaxation, Babcock had a point, and he made it with a smile.
"Our top group is
being a little too fine right now," Babcock said. "But they're real
proud guys and they're smart guys and they know. Before the game,
when we were going through the power play and none of the (video)
clips were them, they knew."
The Wings' best
skaters -- Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom -- may be quiet, but
they're not automatons. They lead in unseen, and sometimes unspoken
ways, with Zetterberg taking on more and more responsibility.
As the team evolves,
the Babcock-Zetterberg relationship naturally grows. When Zetterberg
and Datsyuk started playing on the same line a couple years ago,
Babcock told them to decide between themselves who wanted to play
center and who'd play on the wing. They talked and Zetterberg chose
center, although the pair improvises a lot.
For a guy so good at
pushing, Babcock isn't bad at pulling back.
"We appreciated that
he let us have the choice," said Zetterberg, 27, who leads the Wings
with 23 playoff points. "At the same time, he knows what he wants
and he knows what buttons to push. Sometimes you get real mad at him
but it turns out it's the right decision."
Would that power-play
videotape, the one that highlighted exclusively the second unit --
manned by forwards Johan Franzen, Dan Cleary and Jiri Hudler -- be
one of those push-able buttons?
"Maybe," Zetterberg
said, laughing. "He knows how to get me mad. It doesn't happen that
often, but I think I play better when I'm a little bit feisty."
The Wings don't
operate an aristocracy, with stars on one level and role players
below. Babcock has learned to adjust his sometimes-overbearing ways,
figuring out how to coach experienced stars, because it's different
than the "greasy" hockey he coined in Anaheim.
But he doesn't coddle.
And the results are seen in the improvement of his best players, and
in the incredible blossoming of Zetterberg and Datsyuk.
"On some teams, if a
coach said that a lot of shifts were too long, they'd take it as a
shot," Babcock said. "These guys don't. They know it before you even
tell 'em. I'm the coach so I'm in charge, but they're elite, elite
players that have an opinion. They know they're driving the bus.
They lead, and they do it without ego."
It's the hidden trait
that makes the Wings go. Teammates rave about the work ethic of
Zetterberg and Datsyuk, so it wasn't a surprise when the duo cranked
it up physically in the postseason.
They're doing more and
more, and at times, they try to do too much. Earlier in the season,
when Zetterberg and others were extending their shifts, Babcock
cooked up a quick remedy.
At the end of a
practice in Minnesota, he ordered them to
skate backward for the length of their too-long shifts (about a
minute), and do it seven or eight times.
"He told us, 'You
can't play like this,' and we pretty much agreed," Zetterberg said.
"When you want to do a little too much, that's what happens. Of
course I take some of the blame for the loss (to the Penguins). I
have to take care of it for the next game."
The Wings aren't
beating themselves up over one loss. They know they played well for
stretches. But Sidney Crosby and the Penguins have their first
whiffs of confidence and Game 4 will be tough again.
It's all about
relaxing, without relaxing, if you know what I mean. The Wings get
it. Zetterberg said they packed the soccer balls for the bus trip to
the undisclosed resort, for spirited bouts of "two-touch." That's
the game in which players stand in a circle, kicking around a soccer
ball, with participants dropping out as they miss.
(It’s later learned
that Zetterberg took in some fly-fishing at the resort durind the
day off.)
It's a good way to
relax. Almost everyone on the team plays and everyone is treated
equal. Hmm. That also happens to be a good way to run a team.
Henrik Zetterberg: The Red Wing Who
Could Be King
By
Mitch Albom, Free press, May 24th,
2008
The first time Henrik Zetterberg set foot in Joe Louis
Arena, the Red Wings were in the playoffs. Against Colorado. He
was a new draftee; he wore a suit, and he felt like an
idiot
"Who wears a suit at a hockey game?" he recalls thinking.
Afterward, he and Niklas Kronwall, another Detroit pick,
were ushered into the locker room to meet the team. They felt
awkward, like forced guests at someone else's party. Luckily, the
game had been won, and the players were pretty
friendly.
So
he and Kronwall came back the next game. And this time Detroit lost.
And the locker room "was like a funeral; even guys' families were
upset."
At
that moment, wearing dress shoes and a sports coat, Zetterberg got a taste of what the
NHL playoffs are all about -- how you put your heart on the line
every night. Tonight, he gets the ultimate firsthand exposure: He
plays in the Stanley Cup finals. Like Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, it's
his first time. Like Crosby, he is
being counted on to lead.
But here's a news flash for the national
media:
Crosby may be "the new face
of the NHL."
But Zetterberg could be.
This is a kid who is rock-star good-looking, has a
high-profile girlfriend, mad skills, a humble demeanor and a knack
for finding the puck as if he and it were separated at birth. His
numbers are at superstar levels. He makes everyone around him
better. He's fast, dynamic, tough on defense, has an almost cosmic
connection with linemate Pavel Datsyuk and, finally -- and here's
the part that few people know -- the guy is damn close to
eloquent.
Oh, you'd never think it catching a sound bite after a
game, his long hair soaking with sweat, his uniform sopping on his
5-foot-11 frame. At those moments, the guy they call "Hank" seems to
only want to escape. So he may toss off a quick and accented cliché
-- "We had our chances, we took advantage" -- and you may leave
dismissing Zetterberg as another Swedish athlete in a mode that
stretches from Bjorn Borg to Nicklas Lidstrom: all talent, no
quote.
Wrong.
More famous in
Sweden
Sitting alone at a quiet table this week, Zetterberg
shows how illuminating he can be when he wants to be. When asked
about comparisons between him and Steve Yzerman, he says, "It's a
good story for them to sell to the media," and when asked if he'd
make the comparison himself, he says, "Steve was captain here for 19
years. ... I got a few trips around the world before I reach his
status." When asked about the pressure of being the young star among
older superstars, he says, "You take it with a pinch of
salt."
A
pinch?
Well, understand that Zetterberg, 27, is no stranger
to media, interviews, or outside curiosity. In his home country,
he's Andre Agassi-meets-John Mayer -- famous for what he plays as
well as whom he dates. Zetterberg and his girlfriend of two years,
Emma Andersson -- a Swedish model and TV celebrity -- are photographed constantly, whether
they like it or not. Dinners are regularly interrupted. Stories get
written, with or without their help.
When they return to America, they actually
revel in the relative anonymity. "We like being normal people," he
says. It would be akin to David Beckham and Posh Spice living here
-- if they ever stopped trying to tell everyone how famous they
were.
"I
don't go out and try and get attention," Zetterberg says. "I have
been handling the media in Sweden since I was 17. I
know it's a big part of sports now. You have to stand up if you win
or you lose. But attention? I don't need that. I don't mind it, but
I don't need it."
This is a guy who left home when he was 14 to live
with other teenage players, who vaguely remembers watching his first
NHL finals game with a friend on TV (Ray Bourque winning a ring with
Colorado), a guy who says he first knew Dallas Drake, his current
teammate, because "I had him in my Nintendo hockey game when I was a
kid."
He
thought, until his teens, that he would be a soccer player. He
certainly never dreamed of fame in the
NHL.
And yet he's likely to get a ton of it this next week
-- and if the Wings win the Cup, for a lot longer than that. For one
thing, this kid is that good. For another, the Detroit front
office is banking on it. Whenever you talk marketing with Red Wings
people, they gush about Zetterberg.
And they wonder why he isn't already a household
heartthrob.
Playing with hockey
royalty
Part of that is because he joined the Wings when you
had to get in line to be a Hall of Famer. His first team (2002-03)
had Yzerman, Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, Sergei Fedorov, Luc
Robitaille, Brett Hull, Chris Chelios, Igor Larionov, Dominik
Hasek.
"It was a sick team," he says -- and he means that in
the most Generation Y way.
Meanwhile, Zetterberg kind of sneaked up on people. At
the time, nobody thought a lot about this skinny, relatively small
guy from Sweden. He was a
seventh-round pick. Legend has it that he was not in the Wings'
plans, that their scout was in Europe looking at another player and
happened to spot this skinny kid who moved well and made some nice
moves with the puck.
"Did you know the scout was there?" I ask
Zetterberg.
"Oh yeah, we knew."
"Did you think he was there for
you?"
He
laughs. "No way."
That's not false modesty. Zetterberg didn't even know
when the NHL draft was. The day it took place, he was on a vacation
in Cyprus with four of his
buddies. They were camping out in a hotel room, going to the beach.
Zetterberg got a call from his parents. Guess what? Detroit had
drafted him.
"My friends and I had a little celebration that
night," he recalls, smiling. "And I had to pay for all of
them."
Still, a seventh-rounder is not an instant headline.
It took him several years to even get over to the States. That first
night at the Joe, watching the Wings play the Avalanche, he
remembers thinking, "It was fast -- so, so fast -- and I was like,
'Am I gonna play this type of hockey next year? I better get home
and work out a little bit.' "
His Russian buddy
Well, obviously, that "little bit" paid off.
Zetterberg has blossomed with every passing year, and he keeps
climbing new heights. His first season, he was runner-up for the
Calder Trophy as rookie of the year; he had 44 points in 79 games.
This past season, with 92 points in 75 games, he is a candidate for
the Selke Trophy as best defensive forward in the NHL. His pairing
with Datsyuk, also a Selke finalist, is already one of those
feels-like-legendary things. When you watch them skate, with almost
telepathic passing, you are pretty sure you're watching the opening
minutes of a long career highlight
reel.
"We are from different worlds," Zetterberg admits of
his Russian pal. "But it all started our first training camp. Back
then we didn't have that many young players on the team. I was the
youngest and he was the next youngest, and he took me under his
wing. We kind of followed each other on the ice and continued off
the ice."
Today, the two players -- who live, Zetterberg says,
"about five minutes from each other" in the suburbs -- often carpool
to the games together. Zetterberg swears that Datsyuk is comically
funny, with a dry, fun-poking sense of humor -- in English. This
will come as a shock to fans who haven't been able to hear a
complete sentence from Datsyuk since he got
here.
"I
would say I understand him pretty well," Zetterberg says, laughing
conspiratorially when it's suggested that Datsyuk only speaks
English as well as he wants to. "We have good conversations, let's
put it that way.
"I
think it's a little easier if it's just me and him or guys on the
team. It's pretty intimidating to talk to the media sometimes,
because if you say something wrong it could be all over the
news."
Words of wisdom
Yet for a guy who knows how to be cautious in an
interview, Zetterberg can be surprisingly candid. When I ask how he
thinks he will feel if he wins the Stanley Cup this year, he avoids
the standard "dream come true" stuff and instead evokes a previous
feeling of ennui.
"When we won the Olympics" -- in 2006, playing for
Sweden -- "the feeling
was kind of like, 'Is this it?' That game was so mentally tough,
that when it was over, you won, and then it was like" -- he exhales
-- "you were so empty. You were empty. You were happy, but at the
same time, I thought it would be more.
"On the other hand, when I first got here we had that
great team, and we lost in the first round. The next year we lost in
the second round. That feeling you have after the last game of the
year when you're not on the winning side, it's like, 'My god.' It's
so mentally tough.
"So I don't know what the feeling would be like to win
a Cup. But I know I don't want to have the feeling you have when you
lose. It's the worst."
Nothing cliché about that, is
there?
And there is nothing cliché about this player. He is a
major talent, and, even better, a growing talent, with a level of
smarts and insight that rarely gets exposed. The team loves him.
Management loves him. Fans love him. It seems a cinch that he will
one day take over the captain's reigns when Lidstrom retires. And
you could see Zetterberg having a decade or more as the face of the
Wings.
But if the league is smart, it won't stop there.
Zetterberg may not want to be the face of the NHL. He may not want
to be more famous here than he is in Sweden.
But if Detroit wins the Stanley Cup, and
if Zetterberg plays the way he's capable, well, it may be like that
night when he wore a suit to a hockey game. He may not have a
choice.
Zetterberg has Grown into an NHL
Superstar
By
Larry Wigge, NHL.com, May 22, 2008
For six weeks, when he was 17, Henrik Zetterberg
was wondering about his hockey future. He had a part-time job
cleaning lanes at a bowling alley at home in Njurunda,
Sweden.
Strikes and
spares definitely were in his plans, even if there was no sign of
stardom when the Detroit Red
Wings selected him two years
later — in the seventh round, 210th overall, in the 1999 NHL Entry
Draft.
Zetterberg was a small, wiry player with deceptive speed
who was uninhibited along the boards. He always seemed to have the
puck, which is what caught the attention of Wings Assistant GM Jim
Nill.
"He was a skinny little kid when I saw him," Nill said. "I
really liked his instincts."
Fast forward to this year's Stanley
Cup Final and you are struck by these thing: Zetterberg is shifty.
He's skilled. He's swift. He's solid and accountable at both ends of
the rink. And he's very, very smart.
He's tied for the League
lead with 21 playoff points and has scored a goal in eight of his
last 10 games.
Zetterberg has dazzled opponents with his
stickwork and speed, making fans marvel at his ability to do so many
things at a fast pace. From a distance, the 27-year-old is magic.
But there's much more Zetterberg's abracadabra act on the ice. And
there's also more than the disheveled brown hair and unshaven look
of a surfer.
"When he stepped on the ice for the first time in
the NHL, he was already one of the more skilled players in the
League," said St. Louis
Blues goaltender Manny Legace, who
played behind Zetterberg for the first time in 2002-03 and had to
face his many head-shaking moves in practice for three years before
joining the Blues. "No offense to Sidney Crosby or
Vinny Lecavalier or anyone else, but there is no better player in
the NHL now than Hank."
Legace was asked if he wanted me to use
"arguably" in that quote, but he said it wasn't needed. Then he
added one more thing to Zetterberg's attributes — the intangible
look of a Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Michael Jordan or Magic
Johnson.
"It's the fire in Hank's eyes and the passion in his
belly," Legace continued. "I've seen bigger players try to take
liberties with him and he'll just stand there face-to-face and give
the other guy the look."
"I don't consider myself scary,"
Zetterberg said. "Would you be afraid of me?"
Even after
Zetterberg was named rookie of the year while playing for Timra IK
in the Swedish Elite League in 2001, he still saw the skills and
size of NHL players only on TV and occasionally in pickup games
against European NHL stars. The next season he was named player of
the year in the Swedish Elite League. By the time the 2002 Olympics
rolled around, Zetterberg had filled out and got his first real
taste of what life would be like at the next level.
"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."
Thirty pounds stronger since draft day, Zetterberg now
is a legitimate MVP candidate.
"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."
For Goran Zetterberg, Henrik's father and coach of the
hockey team in Njurunda, and his mom, Ulla, who is an office
supervisor, the dream of seeing their son play in the NHL was second
to seeing him play for the Swedish national team. When asked about
his best moments in hockey, Zetterberg quickly picked his first
Olympic appearance at Salt Lake City
in 2002 and Sweden's gold-medal victory at
Torino,
Italy, in 2006 as Nos. 1
and 1A.
"But," Zetterberg added, "I just missed the Red Wings'
Stanley Cup run in 2002. I think I could find a place right there at
the top with the Olympics for a chance to lift the Stanley Cup in
victory."
He's four wins away from getting that chance.
"He
can pass and he can shoot at an elite level,” Red Wings captain and
fellow Swede Nicklas 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."
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 are Zetterberg's consistency,
strength and work ethic.
"You're never going to outwork Hank,
that's for sure," Wings coach Mike Babcock said.
"There isn't a
stronger player on his skates than Zetterberg," said Blues coach
Andy Murray. "No one knocks him off his feet, and no forward has the
kind of stamina that he has. He could still thrive playing
two-minute shifts and playing the kind of 28- to 30-minute games
defensemen like Chris Pronger,
Scott Niedermayer
and Nicklas Lidstrom
play."
The irony is Zetterberg fell through the cracks in 1999
because he was deemed too slight and fragile for life in the NHL at
a time when bigger was better and teams were able to trap and
obstruct smaller players who weren't equipped to fight through the
holding and grabbing.
"I was 5-11, but I was only about 165
pounds when I was drafted," Zetterberg said.
No muscles? That's
right.
"I was a small kid," he said. "But I wasn't the last kid
chosen in a pickup game. I had skills and I really worked at making
them better and better. I remember as a kid I always tried to not
get hit and to hold onto the puck until I spotted an open
teammate."
He
wasn't even thinking about the draft in June 1999, when he slipped
all the way to the seventh round.
"I was on vacation with my
parents on the island of Cyprus," Zetterberg said. "I
knew the Red Wings were interested and that I wouldn't be picked
early. When my dad picked up the phone and told me it was (Red Wings
European scout) Hakan Andersson, the vacation that was pretty good
already turned great."
When he was 13 he chose hockey over soccer
and added Sweden's Mats Sundin to his
idol, Wayne Gretzky, as players he tried to emulate. When this late
bloomer turned 18, he was chosen to play for Sweden's National Team.
Truth be told, the Red Wings weren't sure about Zetterberg earlier
that season, when Andersson took Nill to a tournament in northern
Finland.
"Hakan was
trying to show me another player," Nill said when asked about his
first reaction to seeing Zetterberg. "But there was this little
Zetterberg guy who always seemed to have the puck."
Still does.
And he does so much more as well.
When asked if he ever could
approach Gretzky, Sundin or Detroit legend Steve Yzerman,
Zetterberg was quick to react, saying, "You have to win to become a
star ... and I haven't won yet."
The operative word is
"yet."
Red Wings Drawing Attention of
Swedish Fans
By
The Canadian Press, May 21, 2008
The Detroit Red Wings would be in rough shape without
Sweden.
In
fact, their general manager insisted the Western Conference
champions would've been knocked out of the post-season long ago - if
they even made it - without their seven
Swedes.
Thanks to Nicklas Lidstrom and several countrymen, Detroit is set
to meet the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup final at home in
Game 1 on Saturday night.
"It's a big deal back home," Lidstrom said Wednesday
in an interview with The Associated Press. "They call us the Swedish
NHL team because there's so many of us.
"As we get deeper in the playoffs, more people are
staying up late and going to work after watching us
play."
Sweden is six hours ahead of
Michigan's Eastern Daylight
Time.
Lidstrom has been around for years and he has steadily
been joined by players from back home in Detroit. He
was drafted by the Red Wings in the third round two decades ago and
made his debut during the 1991-92
season.
Tomas Holmstrom, drafted 257th overall, was a rookie when the Red
Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1997 and helped them win another title
the next year and in 2002.
"It's been amazing how the team exploded with Swedes,"
Holmstrom said.
The Red Wings landed a star and perhaps a future one
in back-to-back years, drafting forward Henrik Zetterberg 210th overall in 1999 and defenceman Niklas Kronwall with the 29th pick the next
year.
Centre Johan Franzen, a third-round pick in 2004, joined the Red Wings
three years ago after the lockout as did forward Mikael Samuelsson and defenceman Andreas Lilja as free agents.
"Somebody has the inside track on the Swedes because
the Red Wings keep finding these guys late in the draft," teammate
Chris Chelios said. "It can't be a
fluke."
The Red Wings are thankful to have Hakan Anderson,
their director of European scouting, evaluating talent in
Sweden to stock their
roster.
"Hakan deserves most of the credit without a doubt,"
Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. "But other people have
chipped in with a team effort to scout Sweden."
Where would the Red Wings be without the
Swedes?
"Probably not in the playoffs," Holland said.
"If we did even make the playoffs, we would've been eliminated a
long time ago.
"Nick and Hank are two of the best players in the
world. Homer is the best at what he does in front of the net.
Franzen has scored 12 goals in the playoffs. Kronwall is one of the
top young defenceman in the league."
Those five players helped Sweden win gold two years
ago at the Olympics.
Lidstrom - whose slap shot lifted his country to a 3-2
win over Finland - has a chance to
add to his fame. He will be the first European captain to win a
Stanley Cup, if Detroit gets past Pittsburgh, and will break a tie
with Ray Bourque if he wins a sixth Norris Trophy as expected this
summer.
"Nick is getting more and more attention after not
getting the credit he deserves back home," Franzen said. "He's never
got the headlines until after the Olympics, when he opened the
Swede's eyes.
"Hank is a bigger target of the media because of his
girlfriend. They're the Swedish version of Beckham and
Posh."
Zetterberg laughed at the comparison to David and
Victoria Beckham, saying he and Emma Andersson are much more low
key.
"We don't get followed like crazy here or back home,"
Zetterberg said. "But she's had her own TV show, so she's known in
public, too."
Zetterberg's game also draws
attention.
His 21 points in the playoffs tie him for the league
lead with Sidney Crosby.
Franzen leads the NHL in goals this post-season
despite missing the previous five games with concussion-like
symptoms.
Kronwall shatters the myth about soft Europeans,
delivering spectacular hits in open ice, and has contributed 12
post-season points.
Samuelsson has nine points, ranking ninth on the team
- behind five Swedes. Lilja has played in six of Detroit's 16
playoff games, adding grit on the blue
line.
Two more Swedes, Mattias Ritola and Jonathan Ericsson, haven't played in the playoffs for the Red
Wings.
"Being here together with all the Swedes is nice and
unique," Zetterberg said. "We know we won't be together forever, so
we're enjoying it while it lasts."
The Swedish Red Wings say their nationality is
irrelevant on the ice and in the dressing room, but acknowledge
their bond away from Joe Louis Arena.
All of them live in a Detroit suburb, Novi, other than Zetterberg, who lives about
30 kilometres away in Bloomfield Hills.
"It's great for our families, especially our wives and
girlfriends when we're on the road," Lilja said. "Our kids speak
English at school, and Swedish at home. Sometimes they mix the two
languages sometimes and we call that
Swenglish.
"We live so close to each other. I'm a sand wedge away
from Samuelsson's yard and the rest the guys - other than Hank - are
a two-minute drive away."
Yes, Zetterberg hears about
that.
"Well, you know, Hank is a star," Lilja joked, putting
his fingers in the air to make quote marks. "He can't live with us
in Novi."
Zetterberg, standing nearby, had a
rebuttal.
"When I got here, it was only Nick and Homer and I
thought they were too old," the 27-year-old Zetterberg said. "So, I
lived where the younger guys did."
Western Conference
Champions!
Zetterberg a Conn Smythe
Trophy Candidate
By
Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, May 20th,
2008
Through the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup
Playoffs, Henrik Zetterberg leads all scorers with 21 points (11 goals
and 10 assists) to become a Conn Smythe trophy candidate, awarded to
the Most Valuable Player in the playoffs. He also leads all skaters
in plus/minus with +15 in sixteen games played, a perfect example of
Zetterberg’s dominance as a two-way player. One of the very best
all-round players in the NHL, Zetterberg has lead his Detroit Red
Wings to a four-games-to-two series win over the Dallas Stars to
become the Western Conference Champions. Henrik had 4 goals and 4
assists and was a +5 in the 6 game series, including a goal, two
assists, and a +3 in game three. On the penalty kill, Zetterberg
scored two back-breaking short-handed goals on the Stars in the
Conference Finals.
The Red Wings will play the Eastern Conference
Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Penguins
have several potential Conn Smythe winners as well: Sidney Crosby
(21 points, 17 assists), Marian Hossa (9 goals, 10 assists), Evgeni
Malkin (9 goals, 10 assists). Zetterbergs linemate Pavel Datsyuk is
also a candidate with 9 goals and 10 assists as well.
Henrik now has a career total 26 goals and 20 assists
for 46 points, and is a +10 in 56 career playoff games. In the past
four games alone, he has passed former enforcer Bob Probert, the
legendary Syd Howe, and current teammate Kris Draper to move up from
20th to 16th place on the Detroit Red Wings
All-time playoff scoring leaders list.
Handicapping the Playoff MVP
Race
By
Allan Muir, SI.com, May 14, 2008
The Conn Smythe Trophy has been handed out to the
postseason's MVP 42 times since Jean Beliveau first captured the
honor in 1965. Never once in that span has the award been shared by
two equally deserving teammates.
The way things are going this spring, the 43rd time
might be the charm.
Zetterberg or Datsyuk. Crosby or Malkin. Assuming the
Red Wings and Penguins clash for the Cup -- and with full deference
to the faithful in Dallas and
Philadelphia, it is strictly an
assumption -- it's hard to imagine picking one teammate from the
winning side over the other.
The success of both teams, to this point anyway, has
been defined by 20 men pulling their weight. But for the
voters, it'll be impossible to ignore the fearsome twosomes that
front the top two offenses of the
playoffs.
A
lot can change over the course of the Finals, but here's the way I
see the frontrunners heading down the home
stretch:
Henrik Zetterberg: If the NHL can't figure out a way
to slip the 27-year-old center into their promotional rotation
alongside golden boys Crosby and Ovechkin, they're missing a Swede
opportunity. What an epic, star-making performance this has been.
Putting aside the potential for bias, netminder Chris Osgood is
right on the money when he calls Zetterberg "the most complete
player in the league." He's epitomized the best of two-way play,
leading his team in scoring (9-9-18), shots (70) and plus/minus
(plus-13). He's not just consistent (he brings an eight-game scoring
streak to tonight's contest), he's scoring the big goals
-- like Monday's third-period shorthander that knocked the wind
out of the Stars. He's also been Detroit's best checker, helping to
quiet the Stars; once-formidable top line. If he keeps up
this pace and the Wings capture the Cup, he's the top
Conn-tender.
Datsyuk, Zetterberg Succeed with a Wink
and a Nod
By
Larry Wigge, NHL.com, May 13,
2008
For Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, there are nights when it's not too hard for them to
turn nothing into something pretty special.
"I don't know how to
explain it. Some players just seem to be on the same wavelength a
lot," Zetterberg said of his unassisted back-breaking, third-period
shorthanded goal, plus the first career hat trick of any kind --
regular season or playoffs -- for Datsyuk in Detroit's 5-2
victory against the Dallas
Stars in Game 3 of the
Western Conference Finals on Monday night. "Sometimes Pavel will
give me a wink or nod his head ... and I usually know what he
means."
"No magic," Datsyuk said. "In the playoffs you have to go
hard to the net -- and that's what we did."
Not smoke and
mirrors. Not abracadabra. Just a friendly wink and a nod. Sort of
like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Peyton Manning and Marvin
Harrison, Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri.
"Datsyuk and Zetterberg
were absolutely phenomenal," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said of
Pavel's hat trick and Henrik's one goal and two assists. "It's
funny, but there are no signs that they are going to put up that
kind of performance. All I know is good players have a way of
playing real good when it counts."
"Those two are a rare couple of players," Stars coach
Dave Tippett said after Detroit took a commanding 3-0 lead
in the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals. "They're not only
the best checking line, but also the best scoring line. And they're
just making plays. Can we defend them better? Sure, we'd love
to defend them better. But they're making plays that are counting
and that was the difference in the game."
"They are both in such
good position defensively that they can turn on a dime and take the
puck the other way before the other team realizes it -- and tonight
it was even more important the way they responded to score right
after we gave up a goal," said veteran center Kris Draper. "That can really beat an opponent down."
"I've
been watching them play the last four seasons and they are great
together or apart," captain Nicklas
Lidstrom said. "But
when we put them together it seems like no one can stop them. It's
uncanny sometimes the way they keep finding one another."
Magical
ad libs and instincts aren't the only things that makes Datsyuk and
Zetterberg so special. It's the surprise that these two players are
even getting the chance to play on the best stage in the world.
After all, some 170 players were chosen in the NHL Entry Draft in
1998 before Datsyuk and even more, 209 players, were picked ahead of
Zetterberg just one year later.
"I had never heard of Pavel and
Henrik. Well, I had read a little about Henrik in the Swedish
newspapers and magazines I get from back home. But never in my
wildest dreams did I think these names on a draft list would bring
so much creativity and production to our lineup," Lidstrom
continued. "And it's no fluke, either. (GM) Ken Holland and
(assistant GM) Jim Nill seem to find great players every year. You
don't know how much confidence that gives the guys who have been
here for a while to know that somebody pretty darn good is going to
come in to compete for a roster spot almost every year."
Like
Datsyuk, Zetterberg's size was a point of contention in an NHL where
bigger was better during all of those years where teams were able to
trap and obstruct the smaller players who weren't equipped to fight
through the hands, arms and stick-checks. Datsyuk is now listed at
5-foot-11, 185 pounds and Zetterberg at 6-foot, 190. Before they
were drafted, Datsyuk was 5-10, 160 pounds and Zetterberg 5-11, 175
pounds.
There's an elite level that often comes after players
with the kind of skills that Datsyuk and Zetterberg have flashed in
front of us ... and continue to do so.
"The thing about elite
players is you see what they do and the numbers they put up, but the
next sign is the intensity they play with every shift," Wayne
Gretzky once told me. "The next time you see them play, just look at
the intensity on their faces and in their eyes. That's what
impresses me most about Datsyuk and Zetterberg."
Red Wings
goaltender Chris Osgood laughs when he says that the beauty is in the eye of
the beholder in talking about Datsyuk and Zetterberg.
"They are
relentless," Osgood said after posting his ninth straight playoff
victory. "I remember facing them when I was with St. Louis and
thinking; 'Take a shift off once in a while, please.' They were
coming at us in waves all night, every time we played them.
"Of
course, now that I'm back in Detroit, I'll give them a pat on
the butt and encourage them to keep putting the pressure on the
opposition. It's really something to watch. It seems like every time
they are on the ice, they are dangerous."
With Datsyuk and
Zetterberg, you get the instincts, the deft puck-handling skills,
the moves, the intelligence of a chess master -- two of them in fact
-- moving the rest of the pieces around on the chess board to their
advantage. Simply incredible. You can talk about Jordan and Pippen,
Manning and Harrison and Gretzky and Kurri, but Pav and Hank are
doing these marvelously magical things in the here and
now.
Zetterberg
Humbly Comes Closer and Closer to Becoming the “Next Steve
Yzerman”
By Chuck Carlton, The
Dallas Morning News, May 12, 2008
Before Henrik
Zetterberg ever played an NHL game for the Detroit Red
Wings, new teammate Nicklas Lidstrom took his
Swedish countryman American car shopping.
At the dealership,
Lidstrom introduced Zetterberg as the “next Steve Yzerman.”
Zetterberg, a seventh-round pick who was supposedly too small,
thought it was a joke.
Lidstrom was serious, then and now.
Few are having a better postseason than Zetterberg. Only
Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin and
Sidney Crosby have more points.
Zetterberg carries a seven-game
point streak into tonight’s Game 3 against the Stars, whom he has
been dissecting on faceoffs.
“He’s probably the most complete
player in the league,” Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood
said.
What separates Zetterberg from other talented offensive
players is a work ethic that manifests itself in dogged
backchecking, along with an intense competitive streak.
More
than anything, those qualities caught Lidstrom’s eye when he made
the comparison to Yzerman, a certain Hall of Famer.
“They have
the skill,” Lidstrom said, “and they both have that determination
that Stevie could take to the next level. I see that in Hank, too.”
Lidstrom isn’t alone.
Former Detroit coach Scotty Bowman, who
did nothing by accident, assigned Zetterberg the locker stall next
to Yzerman, where Zetterberg observed for two seasons.
Zetterberg cringes when asked about being mentioned in the same
breath with Yzerman, saying it’s unfair.
“I have miles to go,”
Zetterberg said. “He has brought so much to this club and to this
organization, I’m not even close.”
He’s getting closer, though.
This season, Zetterberg, 28, set season bests in goals (43),
assists (49) and points (92).
The improved numbers come from a
major adjustment two seasons ago, when Zetterberg began putting the
puck on net more.
“I would say, for me coming from
Sweden, you thought more
pass than shoot,” said Zetterberg, who took a career-high 358 shots
this season. “It was always in the back of my mind.”
Playing on
a line with the gifted Pavel Datsyuk helps, too.
Plus,
Zetterberg has found a comfort zone. He is one of seven Swedish Red
Wings and relishes the camaraderie. Off ice, he
blends into a metropolitan landscape like he could never do in his
native country.
“It’s a unique situation for us to have this
many Swedes,” Zetterberg said. “We know it’s not going to last
forever. We have to take advantage of it.”
Zetterberg
Scores Game-Winner, Wings Take 2-0 Series Lead over Dallas
By Chris Turner,
Zetterbergfan.com, May 10, 2008
Henrik Zetterberg
scored the game-winning goal as his Detroit Red Wings defeated the
Dallas Stars 2-1 and took a two-games-to-none lead in the
best-of-seven Western Conference Finals.
Zetterberg’s
game-deciding tally came on the power-play, 15:13 into the first
period. Hank fired a one-timer from Pavel Datsyuk past Star’s
net-minder Marty Turco to give Detroit a 2-1 lead that they never
gave up.
The goal was
Zetterberg’s eighth of the post-season and was also his third
game-winner in ten Red Wings playoff victories. He now has 8 goals
and 7 assists for 15 points in 12 games since the regular season.
That’s second only to Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who
has 17.
Tonight’s goal was
Henrik’s 23rd career playoff goal. With 17 assists, he
now has 40 points in five post-seasons, moving him above Gerard
Gallant, Martin Lapointe, and Adam Oates (39 ponts each) for
20th place on Detroit’s All-time Playoff Scoring Leaders
list.
No Holes in Zetterberg's
Game
By Brian Compton, NHL.com,
May 9, 2008
Perhaps the only thing
more remarkable than the skill of Detroit Red Wings
forward Henrik Zetterberg is the fact that 209
players were selected ahead of him in the 1999 Entry
Draft.
One could certainly make the case that the 27-year-old
is the NHL’s best all-round player. Not only did he enjoy new highs
in goals (43) and points (92) this season, but Zetterberg was also
stellar in his own end of the ice. So good, in fact, that he is a
Selke Trophy candidate, an award that is given to the League’s top
defensive forward.
“I think it’s always been part of my
game,” Zetterberg said. “Growing up as a centerman in
Sweden, that’s a big part
of your game and you take a lot of pride in it. I think it’s been
like that ever since I started playing hockey. I just enjoy playing
defensive hockey, too.”
As does his linemate, Pavel Datsyuk, who also is a Selke
candidate. Perhaps the fact that two of the game’s top defensive
forwards skate on the same line is one of the reasons why the Red
Wings racked up 115 points during the regular season. Or is it
because Zetterberg and Datsyuk combined for 189 points in 2007-08?
Whatever the case is,
it truly is remarkable that two players as highly skilled as
Zetterberg and Datsyuk can skate on the same line and be so
effective. Usually, it’s one player carrying a line. But Zetterberg
and Datsyuk have a chemistry that is rarely seen between two players
with this much talent. With Tomas Holmstrom on the other wing, the
Red Wings clearly possess one of the most formidable lines in the
League.
“I think ever since the start, we’ve enjoyed playing
with each other,” Zetterberg said. “For much of my first year, I
played with Pavel and Brett Hull. Since then, I’ve been playing with
Pavel. It’s been working great. We like to play the same style of
hockey. It’s a great mix for us. I think ‘Holmer’ creates a lot of
room and gives us that extra second to make the right
play.”
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock believes chemistry
evolves through hard work and sacrifice. Zetterberg (plus-30) and
Datsyuk (plus-41, 144 takeaways) have exhibited both of those
characteristics throughout their careers, and when that’s combined
with their ability to read plays, it makes them one of the most
dynamic duos in recent history.
“They like playing together,”
Babcock said. “They’re both real good offensively, real good
defensively with great hockey sense. They’re real effective when we
play them apart and they’re real effective together. They’re
exciting players. The thing we like about them is they’re so usable
in all situations. They share hockey sense – they see it happening
before most people do.”
Datsyuk was drafted the year before
Zetterberg was – in the sixth round (is it any wonder why Detroit is
consistently one of the League’s top teams?). And even though it’s
clear Zetterberg should have been a top-10 selection in 1999 – the
New York Rangers took Pavel Brendl
fourth overall – the sensational Swede said he was not upset about
having to wait so long before his name was finally called in Round
7.
In fact, he was actually shocked.
“I’m not the
biggest guy now, but I was even smaller at the time of my draft
year,” Zetterberg said. “It was happy that I got drafted. I didn’t
speak to a lot of teams. I think it was the Red Wings and maybe one
other team that showed interest. I was really surprised when
(Director of European Scouting) Hakan Andersson called me and told
me that I was drafted.”
Since then, Zetterberg has reached
rock-star status in his native Sweden. His girlfriend is
Swedish television star Emma Andersson. His clothing line –
Zatacollection – was launched in 2006 and has been a huge
success.
But with so much attention these days being focused
on the likes of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, does Zetterberg receive
the accolades he so richly deserves?
He thinks
so.
“I’m here to play hockey – that’s my job,” Zetterberg
said. “I like doing that here and it’s a great town to do that. I
think I get the recognition that I deserve.”
(The Red Wings)
enter the Western Conference Finals facing the fifth-seeded Stars,
who have eliminated the defending champion Anaheim Ducks and San Jose in
the first two rounds of the playoffs. Zetterberg thought for sure
the road to the Stanley Cup Final would have gone through one of
those two cities.
Instead, though, the Wings will have to
get past Dallas in order to reach the Finals
for the first time since 2002.
“You thought if you were
going all the way to the Finals you would have seen at least one of
those teams,” Zetterberg said. “It’s been a different look this
year. We’ve played some teams we haven’t (played) in a while. It’s
been fun for us and it’s been fun for the
fans.”
A Swedish Superstar in
Detroit
NHLPA.com, Thursday, May
8, 2008
He's afforded rock
star status in his homeland, but Henrik Zetterberg has also become a
big hit in Hockeytown, |
