Henrik Zetterberg told me this morning (very early this morning for you folks back home) following the Wings' pregame skate at the Ericsson Globe that he is ready to play against Farjestads BK tonight (1 pm ET), which was his goal.

Zetterberg has been battling a sore groin since camp openend and did not play in any of Detroit's eight preseason games in North America. While that bothered him, missing tonight's game really would have soured his spirits.

Zetterberg is a former Swedish Elite League star and told me two weeks ago that he really hoped his groin was going to be better because he didn't want to miss any of the Wings' games here in Sweden.

He said he was nervous over the weekend that his groin wasn't responding well but he had two good skates in Stockholm on Monday and Tuesday, giving him the confidence that he could give it a go tonight in Karlstad against Farjestads BK.

Wings' Swedish Contingent Will be Busy this Weekend

By Dan Rosen, NHL.com, September 29th, 2009

This is different for hockey fans in Sweden. The Detroit Red Wings are in Stockholm to play in the Compuware NHL Premiere against St. Louis on Friday and Saturday, and if you haven't heard, this team from Hockeytown has a bit of a Swedish influence.

"I would say the Red Wings could be the second national team back home," Henrik Zetterberg, one of six Swedes expected to be in Detroit's opening-night lineup, told NHL.com. "People are really fired up for this. We have a lot of fans back in Sweden that probably we didn't know about and they'll all come out now."
Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall, Tomas Holmstrom, and Jonathan Ericsson all should be playing when the Wings open the 2009-10 regular season against the St Louis Blues on Oct. 2 at the Ericsson Globe. Another Swede, Andreas Lilja, is injured, but Swedish rookie Daniel Larsson will be the Wings' third goalie.
With their eight Swedes, the Wings have nearly the entire eastern half of the country covered, from as far north as Boden (Larsson), Pitea (Holmstrom) and Njurunda (Zetterberg) down to Vasteras (Lidstrom), Stockholm (Kronwall) and Norrkoping (Ericsson).
Franzen's hometown of Vetlanda is more centrally located in the southern part of the country, and Lilja's hometown of Helsingborg is on the southwestern tip of Sweden, near Denmark.
Ever since the Russian Five fizzled out in Hockeytown, Detroit has been the NHL's leading breeding ground for top-flight Swedes. It started with Lidstrom in 1991, and to this day the Wings continue to draft and develop some of Sweden's top talent.
As a result, fans in Sweden, which is six time zones ahead of Detroit, stay up until the early-morning hours just to watch the Red Wings play.
"Now they have an opportunity to see us play live in prime time," Zetterberg said, "and they don't have to go overseas to do it."
For their part, the Wings couldn't be more thrilled to bring their brand to Sweden.
The only potential drawback could be the time crunch the Swedes will feel when they are over there.
Zetterberg used the word "hectic" to describe what he thinks the experience will be like, and GM Ken Holland thinks the demands, at least from a media perspective, will be "incredible" for the first few days.

"It's not going to be a vacation, that's for sure," Zetterberg said, adding he wishes the Wings could have an extra day on each end of the trip.
The Wings instead departed Detroit around 10 p.m. local time Sunday and arrived in Stockholm mid-morning Monday. They will leave on an overnight charter flight six nights later after playing three games, including an exhibition game on Wednesday against Farjestads BK in Karlstad, a 2 1/2-hour train ride away.
"We are going to have to do a lot of things while we are there," Zetterberg said. "At the same time a lot of family and friends are going to be coming to the game and you want to spend some time with them. You also want to spend some time with teammates, too. We don't have time to do it all."
The demands actually started as soon as the Premiere games were announced. The Swedish Wings spent the summer handling dozens of ticket requests.
Zetterberg estimated he'll have between 150 and 200 friends and family members see him play over the two days. Kronwall put his number at around 120 and the list might still grow. Lidstrom said he has purchased 40 tickets and is looking for more.
Even so, fulfilling ticket requests and dealing with the media crush isn't diminishing the excitement these Swedes are feeling. They all dreamed of one day playing in the NHL. None of them ever thought they would get to play an NHL regular-season game on their home soil.

Henrik Zetterberg May Play Wednesday

By Helene St. James, Free Press, September 28th, 2009.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden- Henrik Zetterberg hit the ice at Hovet Arena along with the rest of his Red Wings teammates late Monday afternoon and afterward talked about the state of his groin, first in English and then in his native Swedish. He has yet to play in an exhibition game after getting hurt during training camp, but he hopes to do so Wednesday when the Wings play Swedish team Farjestad at Karlstad. "If I feel good and have a good skate tomorrow," he said Monday, "and then I feel good on Wednesday, I will play. It would be nice to get a game in before everything starts."

Zetterberg: My 'ljumsken' Feels the Best Yet

By Helene St. James, Free Press, September 28^th, 2009.

Quick update from Stockholm: The Red Wings spent nearly an hour on the ice this afternoon in an effort to stave off jet lag, and Henrik Zetterberg had good news on the state of his groin (ljumsken is Swedish for groin).

"This is the best I've felt since it happened, so that's positive," he said. "We'll see how it reacts to this, and go from tomorrow."

Zetterberg said he'll play in the Wings' exhibition Wednesday at Karlstad if he can. He has yet to play in an exhibition game after hurting his groin because of stepping on Jimmy Howard's stick during training camp.

Mike Babcock joked that coming home may help the healing.

"He gets back to Sweden, maybe smells that fresh air, or something like that, will make him feel better," Babcock said.

Wings Players to Enjoy Rock-star Status for Season Opener in Sweden.

By Helene St. James, Free Press, September 27^th, 2009.

Led by Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom, the Detroit Red Wings, an iconic hockey franchise built today around Swedes in a sport dominated for nearly a century by Canadians, are to leave for Stockholm tonight in preparation for the 2009-10 NHL season opener Friday. For nearly half the team, it's nothing short of a giant homecoming party.

"A lot of people back in Sweden have stayed up late over the years to watch the Red Wings play," Zetterberg said, "and now they get a chance to watch us play live. It's very special to do this."

The Wings boast a Swede in every position: Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Andreas Lilja and Jonathan Ericsson on defense; Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, and Johan Franzen up front; and newcomer Daniel Larsson may soon be part of Detroit's goaltending.

In his native land, Henrik Zetterberg is a regular in the gossip pages. There are times a simple trip to a café with his famous fiancée becomes an exercise in stealth. He is that popular.

Known in Detroit and among North American hockey fans as an elite forward for the Red Wings, Zetterberg's fame in Sweden shines like the aurora borealis that'll soon light up the dark winter sky there. In his hometown of Sundsvall, he is royalty.

"In our city, and in our county, he is more than a rock star," said Christer Jonasson of Swedish Radio, who has covered Zetterberg since he was 18. "People here just call him Z. That's all. He is very, very famous."

As Zetterberg is known simply as Zata (the Swedish pronunciation of Z), defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom is known simply as Lidas. This week, the two are to lead the Wings, a team that for the past four seasons has boasted no fewer than seven Swedish regulars, back home for an exhibition game Wednesday against Farjestad in Karlstad, and then for Friday and Saturday games against St. Louis at Globe Arena in Stockholm, performances that will open the 2009-10 season.

Zetterberg has about 80 tickets for each night and said he still could use more. Zetterberg's popularity in Sweden began with his dazzling play in the Swedish Elite League and for the Swedish national team, with which he won a medal in four of the five years he played in the World Championships, and grew to astronomical proportions when he began dating Swedish TV personality Emma Andersson. Since the two got engaged in summer 2008, they've become the "it" couple of their summertime home on the island of Alnon outside Sundsvall.

"Hank is the king there," Jonasson said, "and Emma the queen."

"It's Zetterberg who is probably the most famous of the Wings in Sweden, mostly because they still remember him as a superstar from the Swedish Elite League. He was by far our best player when he left for Detroit. There's also the fact that there's some 'flash' around his name. He's considered very good-looking, and he's got the famous Swedish fiancée, Emma."

The adulation can be overwhelming.

"You learn to live with it, but sometimes, yeah, you wish you had a little more privacy," Zetterberg said.

Zetterberg to Play Sunday?

By Ansar Khan, Mlive.com, September 26, 2009

Henrik Zetterberg (strained groin) skated hard Friday morning and said there was a chance he could make his preseason debut Sunday at home against Pittsburgh, the club’s last game before flying to Sweden.
“See how I react to this,’’ Zetterberg said. “Hopefully, I can get one or two exhibition games in (the final exhibition is Wednesday against Swedish club Farjestads).’’
Said Babcock: “I got him penciled into the lineup Sunday. Ideally, he’ll have two games prior to (the regular season). I’m sure he’ll ramp it up (today) and we’ll go from there.’’

UPDATE:

Henrik Zetterberg (groin strain) skated Saturday but said he is highly unlikely to play Sunday vs. Pittsburgh. Zetterberg said he's targeting Wednesday's game in Sweden against Farjestads for his preseason debut.

Ice Chips

By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News, September 25, 2009

Henrik Zetterberg (groin) skated for 10 minutes. He won't play tonight, but is expected to play either Saturday in Toronto or Sunday against Pittsburgh. Dan Cleary (groin) will be in the lineup tonight. Babcock hopes he can get the line of Zetterberg, Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi together for at least two exhibition games.

"Two is better than zero," he said. "But every year we worry about these lines and every year the puck drops and things seem to change."

... Babcock said he hopes to reduce Zetterberg's ice time from 22 minutes a game to 18. Zetterberg isn't a big fan of that.

"When you are in a game you want to play as much as possible," he said. "If a coach wants you to play less minutes, he knows it's not popular with the player but it might be good in the long run. Players want to play as much as possible."

'Home opener' a thrill for Sweden-born Wings

By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News, September 25, 2009

Tomas Holmstrom couldn't watch NHL hockey games on TV when he was a kid growing up in Pieta, Sweden. The only hockey games shown in those days were Swedish National team games.

"Yeah," said a chuckling Henrik Zetterberg, who grew up in Sundsvall, "but when Homer was growing up it was the '60s. I was able to watch NHL games on television."

But Zetterberg, who is seven years younger than Holmstrom, admitted that only one or two NHL games were shown a week and they were on at 2 a.m.

Zetterberg Update

By Ansar Khan, Mlive.com, September 24, 2009

Henrik Zetterberg skated briefly at the start of practice and took the ice afterward but continues to be hampered by a groin strain, which almost assuredly will keep him idled through the weekend.
Zetterberg is confident he'll be ready for the start of the season. He might be able to play in the final preseason game Wednesday against Swedish club Farjestads.

Mike Babcock Plans to Manage Ice Time for Stars

By Ansar Khan, Mlive.com, September 23, 2009

A short summer following a third consecutive long playoff run. A trip to Sweden to start the regular season. A midseason Olympic tournament that could include as many as 10 of their players.

That’s why coach Mike Babcock plans on carefully managing the ice time of his top players.

“I really believe as a coach going into this year’s NHL, depth is going to be key,” Babcock said during a league conference call Wednesday. “I can’t be playing (Henrik) Zetterberg and (Pavel) Datsyuk 22 minutes a night. I’m going to have to play them 18 minutes a night.

“In order to do that, (Valtteri) Filppula has to play 16, and (Darren) Helm has to play 10 or whatever. There’s got to be a four-line rotation.”

Zetterberg averaged 19:52 per game last season and Datsyuk 19:12. Babcock hopes to play them on separate lines, like he did most of last season.

Zetterberg, who has yet to make his preseason debut because of a groin strain, has practiced on a line with Dan Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi. Datsyuk is playing with Johan Franzen and Tomas Holmstrom.

That gives the club more balance and strength at center, with Filppula anchoring the third line and Helm, who might miss the start of the season with a sprained AC joint (shoulder), on the fourth line.

“You can’t continue to play that amount of hockey and ask your guys to play as hard with this kind of schedule,” Babcock said.

Several Players Battling Groin Injuries

By Ansar Khan, Mlive.com, September 21^st, 2009

Henrik Zetterberg, Dan Cleary, Todd Bertuzzi and Jason Williams are dealing with nagging groin injuries, nothing serious. Zetterberg and Cleary stayed off the ice and hope to skate and play later this week.

“Maybe it’s 2-3 percent better today than Friday, so it’s going the right way,'' Zetterberg said. “Going to have a new evaluation tomorrow and we’ll see what that will bring.’’
He is hoping to make his preseason debut Friday at home against Toronto.
“The Bertuzzi-Cleary-Zetterberg line hasn’t played together once in exhibition; eventually you’d like that to happen,'' coach Mike Babcock said. “Should be getting frustrating for them, it’s time to start playing.

Zetterberg Out until at least Tuesday

By Ansar Khan, Mlive.com, September 19th, 2009

Center Henrik Zetterberg remains off the ice while getting treatment for his sore groin. He said the earliest he might play is Tuesday at Philadelphia.
Zetterberg said he reaggravated the injury in training camp.
"I stopped on Howie (Jimmy Howard's) stick, that’s when it got worse again,'' Zetterberg said. "Before that I was pretty good.''

Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg (groin) to sit tonight

By Ansar Khan, Mlive.com, September 18, 2009