September-October 2011

By Paul Peluso, Firehouse.com, October 14^th, 2011

Ten years ago, Brendan Shanahan -- then one of the stars for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings -- approached the team's front office wanting to do something to remember his father, who was a firefighter, after he passed away

The team's smoke alarm initiative began, and since then it has helped distribute close to 20,000 of the devices to departments throughout southeastern Michigan.

This year, 5,065 alarms were collected -- the most ever during the program's history and almost double the amount collected last year.

This year, there were three collection events in which fans were encouraged to either bring a new smoke alarm or a cash donation.

At the first event, Red Wings player Henrik Zetterberg signed autographs in exchange for the donations.

Fans could donate $20 or two smoke alarms for a signed puck or another small item, or $40 or four smoke alarms for a jersey or another large item.

Aside from signing autographs and attending the distribution event on Wednesday, Zetterberg also matched the total dollar amount of the donations, with each smoke alarm being counted as $5.

The eight-year veteran with the Red Wings -- the team that drafted him -- donated more than $10,000, which went toward purchasing more smoke alarms.

Detroit Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg distributes more than 5,000 smoke detectors to fire departments, including Flint

By Kayla Habermehl, The Flint Journal, October 13th, 2011

Red Wings player Henrik Zetterberg helped distribute thousands of smoke detectors Wednesday as part of Fire Prevention Week.

The Flint Fire Department was among those that received smoke detectors, according to a statement from the Red Wings.

Zetterberg helped distribute the smoke detectors following the team's practice today in Detroit. The fire departments will donate the detectors to low income families, according to the statement.

"I think it's a very important cause, I think a lot of homes don't have (smoke detectors)," Zetterberg said.

Red Wings fans donated 315 of the smoke detectors along with more than $8,700 during an autograph signing with Zetterberg in September and two hockey games. Zetterberg also personally donated more than $10,000 to the program, according to the statement.

"You look forward to this day every year," Zetterberg said.

The Smoke Detector Collection began in 2001 in honor of former Red Wings player Brendan Shanahan's father, who served as a firefighter, according to the statement.

Zetterberg Distributes Smoke Alarms to Local Fire Agencies
By Bill Roose, DetroitRedWings.com, October 12^th, 2011

Henrik Zetterberg has stepped up to help prevent fire-related deaths through his distribution of more than 5,000 smoke detectors to local fire departments Wednesday afternoon at Joe Louis Arena.

Serving as the Red Wings' spokesman for the 10th annual smoke detector collection, presented by Comerica Cares, Zetterberg met with several representatives from local fire departments after practice.

By Ansar Khan, MLive.com, October 10, 2011,

The reunion of the Detroit Red Wings’ Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg came sooner than anticipated this season, when the stars joined forces in the second period Saturday.

The line juggling helped the Red Wings beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-0 at the Pepsi Center to improve to 2-0.

Datsyuk set up Zetterberg with a nice pass for a one-timer, which put Detroit ahead 2-0 at 11:58 of the third period. Zetterberg assisted on Datsyuk’s empty-net goal with 2:20 remaining. Their linemate, Danny Cleary, assisted on both goals.

"Those two guys have great chemistry," Cleary said. "They like each other. They think the same. It’s not like they need an adjustment period."

The two might separate and reunite frequently this season.

Jiri Hudler had played with Datsyuk and Cleary for most of the preseason and in Friday’s season opener against Ottawa, while Zetterberg was centered a line with Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula.

Ideally, coach Mike Babcock would like to keep Datsyuk and Zetterberg apart. It strengthens two lines and allows Filppula to play the wing, where he can be more offensive minded. But it is a tremendous luxury knowing Datsyuk and Zetterberg, who think alike, can be paired together at a moment’s notice and immediately click.

Zetterberg has no idea how much he will be paired with Datsyuk but said, "We’re just ready when the call is made.

"We like playing with each other. Every time we get a chance, we kind of get a little energy boost, and (Saturday), it worked."

The Swedest Night

By Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, October 8^th, 2011

It was supposed to be the Colorado Avalanche’s night. The Detroit Red Wings long-time rivals retired the jersey of legendary Swede Peter Forsberg on their season opener at the Pepsi Center. It was also the debut of Avalanche Swedish rookie Gabriel Landeskog, who grew up a fan of Forsberg as well as Red Wings Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg.

It was Zetterberg who made a difference to help spoil “Peter Forsberg Night”. Z had seven shots on goal and finally got a tally 11:58 into the third period to give Detroit a decisive 2-0 lead.

On the play, Henrik took the puck away from defenseman Jan Hejda at center ice and skated into Colorado’s zone around the outside of Paul Statsny as he dropped a pass back to Pavel Datsyuk at the blue line. Datsyuk fed the puck back to Hank in the right faceoff circle and Zetterberg slapped a one-timer in behind goalie Simeon Varlamov.

Zetterberg and Datsyuk were reunited on a line with Dan Cleary after the Wing’s got off to a sluggish start in the game and needed a spark. Magic always happens when the Eurotwins unite.

Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg idolized Peter Forsberg while growing up in Sweden

By Ansar Khan, Mlive.com, October 8^th, 2011

Like many Swedish teens in the mid-1990s, Detroit Red Wings center Henrik Zetterberg wanted to be like Peter Forsberg.
Zetterberg loved the way Forsberg played -- his tenacity and grit, the way he zig-zagged all over the ice while carrying the puck through traffic, and his relentless hounding of opponents who had the puck.
"As you’re growing up you try to mimic your idols a little bit," Zetterberg said. "I think Peter’s game, that style, being a two-way player, you try to pick a few things up from him. I don’t know if I succeeded, but I tried at least."
Zetterberg succeeded. He’s the current player most often compared to Forsberg, not only due to his style, but also because of his popularity in Sweden.
Zetterberg anticipated watching his idol’s jersey get raised to the rafters at the Pepsi Center Saturday night, as the Colorado Avalanche planned to honor Forsberg by retiring his No. 21 prior to their season opener against the Red Wings.
Forsberg was a key member of the Colorado clubs that had such a heated rivalry with the Red Wings from 1996-2002. That was before Zetterberg’s time, but the Detroit star was happy to have played against Forsberg toward the end of his career and with him on several national teams, including Sweden’s 2006 gold medal-winning Olympic squad.
"Great memories," Zetterberg said. "Growing up, he was one of my big idols. Having a chance to play against him and with him was really a big honor. I’m really happy they picked our game for the ceremony."

ZETTERBERGFAN'S 2011-12 SEASON PREDICTIONS
By Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, October 7th, 2011

In 2010-11 Henrik Zetterberg scored only 24 goals, his second consecutive season with lower goal totals than expected. However, he set a career high in games played (80) and assists (56).

This preseason Zetterberg centered wingers Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula, which will be the team’s second line to start the year. Hopefully Filppula has the breakthrough year everyone has been waiting for. If he does, and Zetterberg can stay healthy all season, the line should be very productive. Hank missed only two games last season. Back spasms and wrist tendonitis have not been a problem for several seasons.

Hopefully this will be the year that Z can play all 82 games. Expect him to get at least 75 to 80. With that many games played, and playing on the second line, Henrik should be able to score 25-30 goals. I expect him to lead Detroit in scoring with about 30 goals. If he can get just 20 tallies this season, Zetterberg will reach the 250 career goals mark.

Z could very well collect 45 to 50 assists for the fourth time in five seasons.

For the second year, I was not very accurate with my predictions. This time I will say Henrik gets about 30 goals and 50 assists, with another 80 point season.

Zetterberg needs only 15 points to pass Reed Larson (570) for 10^th, and 78 points to pass Brendan Shanahan (633) on Detroit’s all-time scoring list. Henrik will likely end up 10th on the franchise Goal-scoring leaders list by the end of this season. He needs to outscore teammate Tomas Holmstrom (currently 232) by at least two tallies this season.

Zetterberg Confident Wings Have Another Run Left

By Brian Hedger, NHL.com, October 7^th, 2011

Henrik Zetterberg was asked last spring whether he'd watch the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after his team was eliminated in the Western Conference Semifinals and he politely answered, "No … I will not."

The sting for losing Game 7 to the San Jose Sharks still was fresh, and he and his teammates were at Joe Louis Arena for locker cleanout day and to pose for the 2011 team photo, which made it hurt even worse.

Zetterberg also was staring at another long summer that provided ample time for training and stewing about coming up short in Detroit's annual Stanley Cup quest. In some ways, the time off was refreshing, but in other ways, it dragged.

Now that it's over and the Wings have a fresh start in front of them, Zetterberg says those who are overlooking Detroit as a serious Cup contender are mistaken. A new Cup quest starts for the Wings on Friday at home against the Ottawa Senators, and Zetterberg -- whom NHL.com recently caught up with -- said he and his teammates are ready to go.

Q: After losing twice in a row to San Jose in the conference semifinals, is there a sense in your locker room that maybe people are overlooking the Red Wings this season?

Zetterberg: Well, we don't really care what other people think. We care about what's happening in this locker room. Every year going into the season, we have the bar high and we want to go all the way. Of course, we have some mid-way goals during the season, as well.

The first 20 games is always important. You want to get off to a good start and get as good a spot as possible for the playoffs. After that, when the playoffs start, it's a whole new season. We've just got to worry about that when it comes around.

Q: Give us a reason or two to believe this team really does have another Cup run in it this season.

Zetterberg: Well, I think we've got a good squad. We made some changes. A few guys left and we got some good additions. We're really hungry and we want to play good. We had a long summer again, so we're really anxious to get going and looking forward to the season.

Q: It looks like you'll start the year playing center with Valtteri Filppula -- who used to play center -- on the wing, while Jiri Hudler moves up to play with Pavel Datsyuk and Danny Cleary. How are those small wrinkles in the line combinations working out?

Zetterberg: Well, me and Pav really haven't played together in two years. We're kind of used to not playing with each other, even though when we're together we enjoy it. We'll probably see some time together on the power play, but we've got good players. We're very deep in forwards. Not just the top two lines will produce points. I think the third line looks good, too, with (Darren Helm) and (Justin Abdelkader) and (Todd) Bertuzzi. They've had a really good preseason and have probably been the best line for us.

Q: You're facing a familiar face Friday against Ottawa -- their new coach Paul MacLean. He used to coach here with Mike Babcock. What do you like about his coaching style?

Zetterberg: Well, he knows hockey very well. He sees the plays great and he's a good man. He's easy to talk to. He'll let you know when you've done something bad, but if you do something good, he'll also let you know.

Q: Getting back to having a good start to the season … you guys have an interesting early schedule, don't you?

Zetterberg: Yeah, we have kind of a weird schedule from the beginning. I think we only have about four games in two weeks, or something like that. We play back-to-back and then we're off for four days and then we have two games and we're off for five days. It's going to be a little weird … we're basically going to have two training camps in between there.

Q: Do you guys also feel a little bit under the radar, even here in Detroit, with what's happening with the Tigers and Lions? Does that feel a little unusual?

Zetterberg: It's unusual for people not in the locker room here. I don't think we pay that much attention to what other media or people say about us. We know what we have in here. We know we have a good team and we're going to be there again. We're real excited for the Lions and the Tigers. I'll admit it's been a little tough to focus for the preseason when we have the Lions playing good and the Tigers in the postseason, so it's going to be fun to go into the regular season -- where you really have to pay attention to our stuff.

Q: You guys now have seven Swedish players on the roster (Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Johan Franzen, Jonathan Ericsson, and Fabian Brunnstrom), with Gustav Nyquist knocking on the door down in AHL Grand Rapids trying to be the eighth. Are you guys trying to become the Swedish national team or something?

Zetterberg: I don't know, I guess they like Swedish blood in here. I think we've just been lucky for us Swedes that we have a lot of guys that have been good in our organization. It's been nice. We enjoy that we have it, especially for our families.

Q: Tell us about Nyquist -- he didn't make the team, but he seemed to really impress a lot of people here. Were you impressed?

Zetterberg: Absolutely. I'd never seen him play before the camp, and he came in and had a really good rookie camp. He just kept going with us and in exhibition games he showed that he really has talent. He's a really smart player and I think that's why we will probably see him up here soon.

Q: Johan Franzen said he reminds him of you a little bit. Do you see that comparison at all?

Zetterberg: I think he's a lot quicker than I was. He really is. He's a really good, skilled player, so I won't be surprised if he's here sometime this year.

“It’s getting old losing in second round,” Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg said. “We want to play longer than that. The great thing is we have another chance this year. We have a good enough team, we just have to go out and play good hockey. If we do that we’ll be there in the
end.”

Red Wings' new arrivals have busy agenda

By Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News, October 5^th, 2011

When Fabian Brunnstrom made the Red Wings roster on a professional tryout he said, "I don't have a phone. I didn't know if I was going to stay here. I didn't want to sign up for a 12-month plan for a phone. I'm going to have to go to the mall and get a phone."

Not to mention, a place to live and a car.

Brunnstrom had been staying with Henrik Zetterberg during training camp, but with Zetterberg's wife returning to town, Brunnstrom had to go.

So he landed with Jonathan Ericsson.

Henrik Zetterberg seems all ready to go, heading into his ninth season in the NHL. He had a goal and an assist in regulation and scored the deciding goal in the shootout to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-3 preseason win over the Chicago Blackhawks tonight at the Joe Louis Arena.

With 47 seconds remaining in the first period, Zetterberg took a pass from linemate and fellow Swede Johan Franzen and lifted it over goalie Alxander Salak to give the Wings a 2-0 lead.

Z later assisted on Captain Nicklas Lidstrom's power-play goal in the second period, making it a 3-1 game midway through the second period.

In the shootout, Henrik faked a slap-shot and slid the puck through the five-hole, beneath the pads of Salak to seal the victory.