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Zäta
Scores Overtime Winner!
By Chris Turner,
Zetterbergfan.com, October 30, 2004
Henrik Zetterberg’s
eighth goal of the SEL season was an empty netter 3:43 into
overtime, giving his Timrå Red Eagles a 4-3 win over Luleå today. With nine assists he now has
seventeen total points in fifteen games, good for second overall in
the league behind Shawn Horcoff of Mora with eighteen.
Zäta has continued to
center a line with wingers Fredrik Modin from the NHL’s World
Champion Tampa Bay Lightning and Christian Soderstrom a prospect
drafted by the Detroit Redwings. The line has geat chemistry and is
very productive offensively and usually stifles opponents top
forwards defensively. However, the trio was on the ice for two of
Luleå’s three goals and was
a -1 in this game. Zetterberg has dropped to a plus/minus of +10 on
the year.
Soderstrom
did record his fifth goal of the season. The 24 year old appears to
be having his breakout season in the SEL. The most goals he has ever
scored in a season is eight in 2001-2002. Playing with Zetterberg
and Modin is obviously a factor in Soderstrom’s production.
Playing Great
In Sweden, Zetterberg with Another Multi-Point
Game
By
Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, October 25,
2004
He
did it again! Henrik Zetterberg and the Timrå Red Eagles are
playing unstoppable hockey. They have proven they’re for real with
their eighth strait win tonight, a convincing 7-1 victory over Malmö.
Zetterberg has continued to click with linemates Christian
Soderstrom and Fredrik Modin of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The three
are skating great, are creating a lot of offense, and putting up
points, especially Zåta, who now has seven goals and nine assists in
just 13 games. His 16 points is tied for first in the Swedish Elite
League with Brendan Morrison of the Vancouver Canucks, who is
playing for Linköpings.
With just 48 seconds
left in the second period Zetterberg assisted on a Valeri Krykov
goal that gave Timrå a 4-1 lead. Just 46 seconds later, heading into
intermission, he added a goal of his own, assisted by Modin. Late in
the third period he and Modin both assisted on defenseman Teemu
Aalto’s powerplay tally, icing the match 7-1.
His goal and two
assists tonight demonstrate that Henrik is playing with a lot of
confidence in the SEL. His confidence was apparent in a recent
interview with Aftonbladet when he commented that there are a lot of
good teams in the SEL but it is possible for Timrå to win the
Eliteserien. He went on to say that the team believes in themselves
and each other, has the ability, and never panics.
It would be hard to
argue. With the eight game winning streak the Red Eagles have taken
over first place in the league from Frölunda. Backed with
outstanding goaltending by Mikka Kiprusoff from the Calgary Flames,
Timrå has the best shot at winning a championship as long as the
National Hockey League remains locked out.
Another Zetterberg Goal, Another Timrå
Win
By Chris Turner,
Zetterbergfan.com, October 23rd,
2004
Färjestad jumped out to
a 2-0 first period lead over the Timrå Red Eagles, threatening their
six game winning streak, but it is all they would get against
red-hot goalie Mikka Kiprusoff and the Red Eagles defense.
Henrik Zetterberg gave
Timrå hope, scoring a shorthanded goal 2:53 into the second period
assisted by Fredrik Modin.
Detroit Redwings prospect Christian Soderstrom scored the
tying goal later in the period as Timrå went on to win 3-2 and
extend the winning streak to seven games and an 8-2-2 record, second
in the SEL.
Zetterberg’s
goal is his sixth in twelve games with seven assists. He remains tied for third in
the league with 13 points.
Zetterberg Continues to Produce
in SEL
By Chris Turner,
Zetterbergfan.com, October 21, 2004
Henrik
Zetterberg continues to make his return to the Swedish Elite
League worthwhile. The star of the Timrå Red Eagles has been hot in
the past few games on a line with Fredrik Modin of the Stanley Cup
Champion Tampa Bay Lightning and Christian Soderstrom, a Detroit
Redwing’s prospect. But Henrik hasn’t been scoring goals lately. He
is doing what he does in the NHL, displaying outstanding
puckhandling skills, drawing the defense’s attention, and making
nice passes to teammates. He has four assists in the past four
games, three in just the last two matches.
The first of the four
recent assists came on Zetterberg’s 24th birthday,
October 10th, in a 5-2 victory over Linköpings. Zäta
assisted on a Modin goal with just 18 seconds left in the third
period, sealing the win.
Then, two nights ago at
home at Sydkraft Arena, he added two assists on two of Timrå’s three
goals in a 3-0 defeat of Brynås.
Today, Zetterberg again
assisted Modin, this time on a powerplay, giving Timrå a 1-0 lead in
the second period of another 3-0 shutout.
Zåta now has five goals
and seven assists in eleven games, tying him for third in the SEL
with 12 points. He is a plus/minus +9 and his and his teammates
excellent defensive play has helped goalie Mikka Kiprusoff of the
Calgary Flames in not giving up a goal in over six periods.
Timrå has won six
straight and has a 7-2-2 record, good for second place in the league
behind Frölunda, who the Red Eagles beat 3-2 two games ago.
Henrik Zetterberg Interview From ST.NU
Translated
by Mikael Lundvall, Zetterbergfan.com, October 14th,
2004
Video Link (In
Swedish)
Q:
After a couple games, how does it feel to play
for Timrå again, Henrik?
Henrik:
It's fun, especially to be back on home ice and play at Sydkraft
Arena.
Q: What
is the crowd and environment like here if you compare to
Detroit?
Henrik:
There are some differences, especially the "cheering supporters"
(*NOTE: not sure how to translate this word, a group of singing
supporters found in European soccer and hockey, maybe you know what
word to use for this? END OF NOTE*), they don't really have those
over there so that way it's nice to get all the support during
home games here.
Q:
What do you think about your own play so far, are you satisfied with
it?
Henrik:
Yeah, it's getting better and better, at first it was hard getting
used to the new rules and so but I'm getting used to it now and
hopefully it'll get even better.
Q:
A question about that beard, many people are talking about it, we
saw it during the World Cup and now it's coming back
again?
Henrik:
Nah, I'm just being lazy at times but it'll probably disappear again
soon.
Q:
It leads it's own life?
Henrik:
Yeah, you could say that...
Q:
What about the game against Linköping on Thursday, they've have a
great start of the season?
Henrik:
They seem to be good, they have good players, and have gotten some
good players from North America so it's a really good team we'll
face, be better be on our toes if we want to win.
Q:
Who will be the key players for Timrå tomorrow?
Henrik:
I think we should try to play together as a team and everyone have
to be playing well in order to be a winning team.
Q:
What do you think the final score will be?
Henrik:
Well I said 7-2 earlier so I better stick to that.
Q:
How many of those goals will you score?
Henrik:
We'll see...
Happy Birthday Hank!
From Chris Turner,
zetterbergfan.com, October 9, 2004
Henrik Zetterberg
turned 24 today and got to celebrate at home in Sweden with friends
and family. That isn’t
great news for Detroit Redwings fans. They are missing out on the
young Swedish star’s exciting style of play. Unfortunately the
National Hockey League is in the beginning of what appears will be a
lengthy lockout by the Owners, until a new collective bargaining
agreement can be made with the players association. This is the last
season of a three year contract with the Redwings before Zetterberg
becomes a restricted free agent. It has not yet been determined if a
season long lockout would count against players contracts or if they
would be obligated to fulfill the contract under the new CBA.
But, what is bad news
for North American hockey fans is good news for European hockey
fans. Many of the locked out NHL players have migrated overseas and
signed contracts with other professional hockey leagues. Most of
those contracts allow for the return to the NHL when play resumes.
But until then the fans in Europe are the only ones seeing the
world’s top talent.
Today, on this special
day for Zäta, as the Swede’s call him, he is playing back on his
hometown team in the Swedish Elite League. The Timrå Red Eagles won
again today with a 2-1
victory over HV-71. The
Timrå organization is where Henrik grew up and developed into one of
the best players in the country. Zetterberg played with Timrå in
Sweden’s 2nd tier league from 1997-2000, leadig the team
with 36 goals and 29 assists in 95 games. His talent was enough to
help lift Timrå to the Eliteserien where he continued to shine for
two more seasons, tallying 25 goals and 53 assists in 95 more games
from 2000-2002. In 2000-2001 he was named the SEL Rookie of the
Year. In 2001-2002 he was awarded the “Guldpucken” (Gold Puck) as
Sweden’s Best Hockey Player. In Timrå, Zäta had become a hockey
god. In 2002, the Red Eagles retired his #20 as he headed to play in
the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings. Prior to this years lockout,
Zetterberg played 140 games in two seasons for Detroit. He lead all
Rookies in points with 22 goals and 22 assists, and was runner up
for the Calder Trophy in 2002-2003. He has amassed 37 goals and 50
assists in 140 NHL games.
Zetterberg’s return to
Timrå, as well as the signings of Calgary Flame’s Finnish goalie
Mikka Kiprusoff and the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning’s
forward Fredrik Modin, have sparked the team to a 4-2-1 start. Zetterberg’s 5 goals and 3
assists in 7 games is good for second most points in the SEL so far.
He is a plus/minus +7 with 8 PIM. But, playing back home with
Timrå is bigger than
the statistics. In fact, its huge. In Timrå Zäta is a hero. In his first
game at Sydkraft Arena, the excited home town crowd held up gigantic
banners that read “Zäta is our King” and “King’s Return”. Every time
Zetterberg registers a point it is local news.
There
is no telling how long the NHL lockout could last. As long as it
does, Swedish fans will get to enjoy watching their hometown heroes.
And for the players, playing back home is a rare opportunity for
European NHLers. I am sure Zetterberg is having a happy
24th birthday!
Three
More Points For Zäta
By Chris Turner,
Zetterbergfan.com, October 7, 2004
Henrik
Zetterberg had two goals and an assist leading the Timrå Red Eagles
in a 7-1 blowout over Djurgården tonight at Sydkraft Arena. The game
was close for two periods, the third starting with a 1-1 tie. That’s
when everything started to go Timrå’s way. Zetterberg scored his
first goal 5:22 into the third period giving the Red Eagles a 3-1
lead. His second goal made it 7-1 with just 2:23 left in the game.
Both of his goals were assisted by new linemate Fredrik Modin of the
Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. As previously speculated,
the former Timrå standout finally signed with his old team,
returning to the Swedish Elite League during the NHL’s lockout and
uniting with Zäta. Coach Kent Johansson paired
the two Star NHL players on the top scoring line with Detroit
Redwing’s prospect Christian Soderstrom, who also had a goal and an
assist. It was the first time this season that Zetterberg and
Soderstrom have been linemates.
Zetterberg’s
five goals and eight points in six games leads the Swedish Elite
League. He has a plus/minus of +7.
Zetterberg
Nets Goal and Assist in His 100th SEL Game for
Timra
By Chris Turner,
Zetterbergfan.com, October 4th, 2004
Henrik Zetterberg had a
hand in both of the Timra Red Eagles goals tonight in a 3-2 loss to
Mora. Zäta, playing on the third line with wingers Jonathan Hedstrom
and Niklas Nordgren in Timra’s re-shuffled line-up, assisted on
defenseman Lars Jonsson’s goal 4:53 into the second period, giving
the Red Eagles a 1-0 lead. However, Mora steamed back scoring three
unanswered goals, taking a 3-1 lead.
With just over a minute
left in the game, Zetterberg scored his third goal of the season,
leaving a little hope for a late Timra comeback. But, Mora held on
for their first ever Swedish Elite League victory in their first
season in the highest tier.
Zäta’s
two points give him three goals and two assists in five games. He
leads Timra and is tied for third in the league with five points (in
five games). He is also a plus/minus +5. Zetterberg also took a late
third period interference penalty. He now has six penalty minutes
this season. The
game was Zetterberg’s 100th Swedish Elite League game for
Timra IK. He has 28 goals and 55 assists for 83 total SEL points.
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