November 2008 Zetterberg Fan.com

Zetterberg’s Goal-less Streak Ends at Six Games

By Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, November 29, 2008

Detroit forward Henrik Zetterberg ended a six game goal-less streak and added and assist in the Red Wings 5-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets last night at the Joe Louis Arena.

Zetterberg’s goal tied the game at 1-1 with 2:54 left in the first period. With the man-advantage, Henrik took a pass in the right face-off circle from Mikael Samuelsson. Z turned and fired a high wrist-shot over the glove of Columbus net-minder Pascal Leclaire. It was Hank’s 6^th power-play tally of the season and 11^th goal in 20 games, even with the goal scoring drought that has lasted since he scored in Tampa Bay on November 13^th. He is second in goals behind Marion Hossa’s team-leading 13.

Zetterberg’s assist also came on a power-play at 8:43 of the second period on a rebound goal by Jiri Hudler.

Zetterberg debate?
By Chris Block, NHLfullaccess.com, November 14, 2008

As general manager Ken Holland and Henrik Zetterberg’s agent Mark Levine put the finishing touches on the player’s new 7 or 8 year contract, expected to be valued at around $8 million per, a mild debate has stirred as to whether the Wings’ 1999-7th round choice is worth such compensation.

Ridiculous may it sound, the discussion arises as Marian Hossa leads the Red Wings in points, plus/minus and power play production. Playing on the top line with Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom, Hossa has stolen some attention away from Zetterberg, now the team’s second-line center.
On any given night, Zetterberg and Datsyuk are just as good if not better than Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Hossa is a horse, but Detroit has built its spectacular reign atop the Western Conference off of solid drafting and building from within. Allowing Zetterberg to walk and instead throwing money at an ‘outsider’ would be a deviation from the winning formula. Besides, Hossa will attract another round of mammoth offers next summer and given he’ll be 30 by the time he signs his next contract, his time to cash in is now. Zetterberg is more prone to giving the Wings’ a home-town discount to stay with a proven winner.
Hossa signed a one-year deal figuring Detroit was his best chance for an immediate return to the Stanley Cup Finals. The bait; a 7.45 million dollar offer to join the defending Stanley Cup champs.
With Hossa, Johan Franzen, 28, and Zetterberg, 28, all set to become unrestricted free agents at the conclusion of this season, the Wings will not have room under the cap for all three.
There is an unwritten creed within the organization suggesting no player is worth more than captain Nicklas Lidstrom. This summer, Hossa had to settle for slightly less Lidstrom’s $7.5M deal, which expires after next season.
Since Lidstrom is expected to retire once his contract ends, he’ll be 40 in the spring of 2010, Zetterberg’s deal will likely escalate.
Unless the salary cap raises another three million or so next year, Detroit will have to move another high-ticket player to make room for the new deals Franzen and Zetterberg will get. Mikael Samuelsson, 31, is also in the final year of his deal as is Tomas Kopecky. Underrated forward Jiri Hudler will be the only notable restricted free agent this summer.
The potential loss of Hossa isn’t something of concern to the Detroit front office. As was the case with Zetterberg and Datsyuk, Valtteri Filppula and Hudler are waiting in line for their turn. When Hossa leaves, Zetterberg will jump up to the top line and Filppula will center the second line with Franzen and Hudler. Currently in Grand Rapids, forwards Ville Leino and Darren Helm figure to be with the Wings next year.

Wings-Lightning

By Michael Caples, Detroit Red Wings.com, Nov 13, 2008

Henrik Zetterberg scored his 10th goal of the season with 13 seconds left on the five-on-three to tie the game 2-2. (Marian Hossa) …actually kicked the puck through goaltender Olaf Kolzig’s pads to Zetterberg, who swatted the puck into the empty net.
Who led the Red Wings to victory? Henrik Zetterberg played yet another phenomenal game for the Red Wings. Not only did he score the game-tying goal, but he set up Johan Franzen for the game-winning goal, on a pass that went through a Lightning defender’s legs, giving Franzen a wide-open net to shoot at. He killed penalties, he played great in his own end, and he cleared but didn’t ice the puck with seconds left to run out the clock. However, his most creative play didn’t end up on the score sheet, but deserves mentioning. During the first period, Zetterberg was wrestling for the puck in the Tampa Bay end, and used some nifty footwork while doing so. Hank actually stepped on the puck, pinned it to keep control, and then kicked the puck towards the Tampa Bay goal, trying to set up Valtteri Filppula. Now, kicking the puck happens all the time, but I’m struggling to recall any times where I’ve seen a player purposely step on the puck, and actually control it.

Hank Scores Again, Leads Wings to Win in Tampa Bay

By Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, November 13, 2008

Henrik Zetterberg scored a game-tying goal and then set up Johan Franzen’s game-winner in a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lighting tonight.

Z’s team-leading 10^th goal of the season came on the power-play with a two-man advantage 1:38 into the third period. After the puck was jammed loose from the leg pad of Tampa’s goalie Olaf Kolzig, Hank found it sitting behind the net-minder and knocked it into the net. The tally made it a 2-2 game and gave the Red Wings the momentum. It was also Zetterberg’s 1^st career goal in six games against the Lightning.

Later in the third, Zetterberg picked up a fumbled puck off the stick of Tampa bay defenseman Paul Ranger. Henrik turned around and sent a swift pass across the slot and back between the legs of Ranger onto the blade of Johan Franzen who put it away to give Detroit a 4-2 lead. The goal would become the eventual game-winner as the Lightning later scored with under five minutes to go.

Z was named first star of the game, had a season-high 9 shots-on-goal, and was a +1 for the first time in the last five games. He now has 10 goals, 5 assists, 15 points and an even (+/-) in 13 games played.

Zetterberg is on pace for a career-high 62 goals in only 71 games this season. He would like to score 50 goals this year after netting a personal best with 43 last season.

Zetterberg is Victim of Circumstances,
When it Comes to Plus/Minus

By Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, November 12, 2008

So far this season, the Red Wings aren’t playing the tight checking, shot-limiting defensive games that got them through the Stanley Cup Finals last season.

Even the guy known for his two-way domination is looking bad in the box scores on a certain statistic. Conn Smythe trophy winner Henrik Zetterberg leads the team with nine goals scored, but was once again a -2 in last night’s 7-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, in which the Red Wings blew a 5-2 third period lead at home. Uncharacteristically, Henrik is a -5 in the last four games played and is a -1 overall in 12 games this season.

Zetterberg is currently -14 (plus/minus) behind the league leader Alexander Semin and -8 behind new team mate Marion Hossa who leads Detroit. Hossa signed as free agent from the Penguins this off-season and has replaced Zetterberg on Detroit’s top line, a move that is not limiting Henrik’s ability to score, but is hurting his defensive numbers.

Watching him closely, it’s obvious that Hank hasn’t lost his superior defensive skills. He skates aggressively, gets in good position, rarely takes lazy penalties (which are plaguing a lot of the Wings including Hossa), and fights for the puck along the boards. The decline in his plus/minus is certainly a case of Z being the victim of circumstances and line-mates.

Having analyzed plays in which Henrik is on the ice when an even strength goal is scored against, I have noticed several occasions where one of four things has happened.

1: A penalty expires, two times immediately after killing off 5-on-3 shorthanded situations, and within seconds the opposing team capitalizes on exhausted penalty killers.

2: A line change. I don’t know if the Wings are picking bad times to change or if it is just an unlucky coincidence, but more than once, Hank has just come onto the ice and is catching up to the play when the Wings are scored on.

3: The other team pulls their goalie for an extra attacker and gets the tying goal. Zetterberg has been on the ice for both of these this year.

And 4: Somehow, Detroit has everyone covered and the other team still finds a way to get the puck in the net. Specifically, a few weeks ago in Vancouver, they had the Sedin twins tied up and the managed to get a pass from behind the net, onto a stick, and behind Osgood. This could be partially due to Osgood’s less than stellar play, or because of the lesser skilled line-mates that Zetterberg has had to play with so far this year.

There is no doubt that being on the second line with numerous combinations of line-mates which have included Johan Franzen (-1), Jiri Hudler (-3), Mikael Samuelsson (even), Dan Cleary (-3), and Valtteri Filppula (-3). Zetterberg has had no opportunity to develop chemistry with a set pair of wingers, which has got to affect defensive coverage. More-so than that, NOT playing on the top unit with Pavel Datsyuk (+4), Tomas Holmstrom (+5), and Norris Trophy winning defenseman and team captain Niklas Lidstrom (+1) is hurting Z statistically.

Some might argue that, in the past, Z was the beneficiary of being on a line with great players, which is true. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that despite Pavel Datsyuk being last season’s Selke award winner for the leagues best defensive forward, it is Zetterberg who is likely considered by most to be the best defensive forward in the league. Need evidence? Look no further than last night’s game. In the third period with the Wings enjoying a two-goal lead, the Penguins were awarded a 5-on-3 power-play for nearly an entire two minutes. Which forward did Detroit head coach Mike Babcock put on the ice to defend against one of the most potent power-play units in the league (the same one he shut down in the Stanley Cup Finals)? Henrik Zetterberg.

Hank successfully stifled Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and company for more than half of the two-man advantage when Pittsburgh called a time out. Instead of putting some fresh legs out there, Babcock kept his best all-around player on the penalty kill. While the Pens eventually scored, it shows who the coach wants on the ice when he wants to stop the other team from scoring.

Another example of Zetterberg’s worth to the team is management’s position on getting him re-signed. General Manager Ken Holland has stated every time he is asked that Zetterberg is his number one priority for contract extension. This is over re-signing Marion Hossa or Johan Franzen. Detroit will likely only be able to retain two of the three free-agents. Henrik has said he would like to spend his entire career in Detroit and will likely make much less money than he could have testing free-agency to do so. It is widely speculated that he will be the next team captain after Lidstrom retires.

In five complete NHL seasons, Zetterberg has totals of +6, +15, +29, +26, and +30. While his numbers are very likely to be down this year, it’s hard to believe that Hank will remain in the red for long. Even on the second line, he should be able to develop chemistry with two of the wingers and eventually get a solid positive plus/minus.

Thoughts on (7-6 overtime loss to Pittsburgh)
By Bruce MacLeod, Red Wings Corner, November 11, 2008

Henrik Zetterberg clearly has a secondary role right now. It's an interesting dynamic to follow this season, a contract year for Z. It's not that Zetterberg doesn't get plenty of opportunity or that he's not centering a scoring line. But Zetterberg is the No. 2 center behind Datsyuk. Would you rather have Hossa and Homer as your wings every night or a mix of Hudler, Samuelsson, Filppula or Cleary? When the Wings have a power play tonight that bridged two periods, the Datsyuk line was on the ice at the end of one period, then was put back out at the start of the next period, keeping Zetterberg on the bench.
I have a lot of respect for Zetterberg for doing this. But I still wonder if he'll do it all season long.

Doing What He's Gotta Do

Posted by George James Malik, Mlive.com, November 12, 2008

Zetterberg is tied for third in scoring with 13 points in 11 games played, one point behind Pavel Datsyuk and 6 behind Marian Hossa. He's played alongside Hudler, Samuelsson, Filppula, Johan Franzen, and Cleary, depending on the game and/or the shift and/or whether he's playing shorthanded, at even strength, or on the power play...

And he continues to produce points--regardless of who is or is not playing beside him--and demonstrate that he's worthy of Selke Trophy consideration already, because the Wings were a completely different team when he missed two games with a groin issue. He's the 1B guy for now, but once the Mule rounds back into form and Fil meshes with him, I can't see why the 1B line will get more ice time and take a more prominent role. Zetterberg has played nothing less than dominant hockey at both ends of the rink, he's given the Red Wings a second power play unit with bite...

Latest on Zetterberg Talks

By Pierre Lebrun, ESPN.com, November 8, 2008

Contract talks may be heating up between Henrik Zetterberg and the Red Wings. Both camps have made counter-offers and we're talking long-term deal, anywhere from seven to 10 years in length. Agent Marc Levine and GM Ken Holland met last week and then spoke again this past Wednesday. They plan to pick up the conversation again this week.

Zetterberg could easily get $9 million to $10 million a year July 1 on the open market, but he won't get that in Detroit. He's got to take less to stay in Detroit. The choice is, do you want win championships with the Wings or make lot of dough elsewhere?

I think the sweet spot is anywhere from $7 million to $8 million a season.

Zetterberg Assists in Icing Home Fires

By Anne Marie Krappmann, DetroitRedWings.com, November 5th, 2008

Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg will meet with representatives from local fire departments and governmental fire agencies at approximately 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at Joe Louis Arena in preparation for the Red Wings Seventh Annual Smoke Detector Collection. Detectors will be collected when the Wings take on the New Jersey Devils this Saturday, November 8, at Joe Louis Arena. The collection is part of a continuing effort to raise awareness of the importance of having working smoke detectors and decrease the number of household fires throughout the state this winter. Zetterberg has served as the team spokesman for the program for three years.
“I am honored to meet with some of the local heroes who fight fires every day,” said Zetterberg. “I hope this program reminds everyone of the importance of having working smoke detectors in their homes.”
Fans attending the game are encouraged to donate new smoke detectors with batteries in exchange for the opportunity to win Red Wings memorabilia autographed by Zetterberg, who will match the total of all detectors collected with a personal donation. Volunteers from local fire departments and governmental fire agencies will be on hand to collect the detectors which will be given to low income families throughout the state of Michigan. Since the program started in 2001, more than 9,000 detectors have been donated to fire departments and agencies throughout the state.

Zetterberg 1st Star of the Game in Vancouver

By Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, November 2nd, 2008

Everyone in attendance, including myself, could see that Henrik Zetterberg was clearly the best player on the ice tonight in the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 road win over the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place. The Vancouver media named Zetterberg the first star of the game after he scored the game-winning goal and had an assist, in a rare two-point game versus Vancouver.

Hank played a phenomenal game defensively (despite being on the ice for both of the Canucks goals), skating hard and getting several great scoring chances.

Z helped open the scoring while on the power-play with six-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first period. While coming through the slot closely defended by Canuck Taylor Pyatt, Henrik took a pass from Jiri Hudler and then dished a smooth backhanded pass under Pyatt’s stick to a wide-open Mikael Samuelsson on the left wing. From the face-off circle, Samuelsson one-timed Zetterberg’s feed into the net behind Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo.

Earlier in the period Zetterberg had missed an opportunity to make it 1-0 himself when he corralled a pass from Niklas Lidstrom with his right foot and quickly snapped a backhand shot over the out-reached glove of Luongo and off the near-side (right) post.

Henrik later scored his game-winning tally on a 5-on-3 power-play with just over a minute remaining in the second period. He received a pass in the left corner from Samuelsson and slowly worked his way toward the net along the goal line. Unchallenged, Z cut to the front of the crease and lifted another back-hander between the post and Loungo, who was leaning away anticipating a centering pass.

"I was lucky to get it through," said Zetterberg.

The goal gave the Wings a 3-1 lead. It was Hank’s team-leading eighth goal in just ten games played. He missed yet another goal just a few moments later, hitting the post on a wide-open net off of a rebound.

Zetterberg played a vital role in killing off seven Vancouver power-plays and was also on the ice in the last minute of the game when the Canucks had pulled their net-minder and brought out and extra attacker. With just 23 seconds left in the game, Hank had a point blank shot on the empty-net blocked by a sliding Henrik Sedin, making it three very close scoring chances by Zetterberg that didn’t even count as shots on goal.

His play tonight shows without a doubt that Z does not need to be on Detroit’s top line with Pavel Datsyuk. Hank continues to put up staggering offensive totals in fewer games, and having played with numerous different line combinations. I got to see first hand that Zetterberg is the most consistent and best all around player on the team.

Fil-ling his role

Posted by George James Malik November 03, 2008

The Detroit News's Dave Dye reports that Red Wings coach Mike Babcock believes that Valtteri Filppula meshes so well with Henrik Zetterberg that Filppula may very well remain on the Wings' second line when Johan Franzen returns from his sprained knee:

November 3, Detroit News:

…Babcock liked what he saw when he put Filppula at left wing with Zetterberg and Mikael Samuelsson Sunday night in Vancouver.

Babcock thinks Filppula's skating ability makes for a good combination with Zetterberg. A Franzen-Zetterberg-Filppula trio would give the Wings a second line that's just a stride behind the explosiveness of Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Hossa. It would also move Samuelsson to the third line.

Filppula on the second line equals putting quite a few eggs in the same basket, but after watching Dan Cleary and Jiri Hudler just not click with Zetterberg for one reason, I thought about the issue of who would make the proper fit for Zetterberg, and the speed factor struck me as the one thing that was missing from the second line.

Zetterberg is a give-and-go player; he's not a "kamikaze passer" like Datsyuk, but he likes to give the puck to a player who can keep up with him and find open spots, and expects his linemates to do the same. Franzen can keep up with Zetterberg, but Cleary, Hudler, and even Samuelsson struggle to do so, and as Franzen's the designated "net front" guy, you end up with a hole where a fleet-footed winger should be. Filppula's speed and passing abilities compliment Zetterberg's, and he'd also receive more than enough passes from Z to fulfill Babcock's request that Filppula shoot the puck much more regularly.