Henrik Zetterberg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
Nickname Hank, Zäta
Height
Weight		 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
195 lb (89 kg)
NHL Team Detroit Red Wings
Nationality Flag of Sweden Sweden
Born October 9, 1980,
Njurunda, SWE
NHL Draft 210th overall, 1999
Detroit Red Wings
Pro Career 2000 – present

Henrik Zetterberg (Born October 9, 1980 in Njurunda, Sweden) is a Swedish-born professional hockey player currently playing for the Detroit Red Wings. His natural position is centre, but he has mostly played left wing since coming to the NHL in the 2002-03 NHL Season. He wears #40 in Detroit and wore #20 for Timrå IK. His nickname in Sweden is "Zäta," which means "Z," in obvious reference to his last name. To his teammates in Detroit and to many fans, he is known as "Hank."

Contents

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Pre-NHL career

Henrik Zetterberg was selected by the Detroit Red Wings 210th overall in the seventh round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. After playing for Timrå IK of the Swedish Elitserien for the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, Henrik came to Detroit to play in the NHL for the 2002-03 NHL season. Before ending up with Timrå IK, Zetterberg played his youth league games for NSK (Njurunda Sports Club).

[edit] NHL career

Zetterberg, a highly touted rookie, did not disappoint. He made his debut against the San Jose Sharks on October 10, 2002. In his rookie season, he played in 79 games, scored 22 goals and had 22 assists for a total of 44 points, which led all rookies. He played on the famed "Two Kids and a Old Goat Line" with Brett Hull and Pavel Datsyuk. He was a finalist and eventual runner-up for the Calder Trophy, the award given to the rookie of the year.

In his sophomore season, Zetterberg nearly matched his rookie stats despite missing 21 games due to a broken leg suffered in a game against the Vancouver Canucks early in the season.

For the 2004-05 season, Henrik Zetterberg returned to Sweden to play for Timrå IK because of the owner's lockout.

Zetterberg during a break in the action in 2006.
Zetterberg during a break in the action in 2006.

During the 2005-06 season, Zetterberg sometimes wore the alternate captain's "A" on his jersey in the absence of team captain Steve Yzerman. The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet speculated that Zetterberg might take over the captaincy for the Red Wings when Yzerman retired,[1] but that proved to be speculation, as Nicklas Lidstrom was named captain and Zetterberg was named an alternate captain on the day of the Red Wings' 2006-07 season opener. He enjoyed his best statistical season in 2005-06, setting career highs in goals, assists, and points, while finishing with a plus/minus of +29. His 17 power play goals led the team, and his 85 points were second to Datsyuk's 87.

Zetterberg was named to participate in the 2007 NHL All-Star Game, however he withdrew to rest an injured wrist.[2]

After scoring his 100th career goal against the Phoenix Coyotes on February 8, 2007, Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky stated that Zetterberg is "probably the most underrated player in the league."[3] And only nine days later on February 17, Zetterberg proved this by picking up his first career hat-trick in Phoenix during a 4-1 Detroit win. All three goals were on the powerplay and he picked up an assist on the last empty-net goal by Jason Williams.

Zetterberg has skated as a member of the "Swedish Five", a line the Red Wings have featured that is similar in concept to the famed Russian Five. During the 2005-06 season, head coach Mike Babcock assembled a starting lineup of five players that hail from Sweden: Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Mikael Samuelsson, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Niklas Kronwall. This was the first NHL line assembled with all Swedish players. The line also skated together at the 2006 Winter Olympics, in which Sweden won the gold medal.

[edit] International career

Zetterberg has been a consistent part of the Swedish National Team, Tre Kronor, since 2001. He has enjoyed a fair amount of success in the IIHF World Championships, winning a medal in three of the four years he has appeared in that tournament. He was one of just two non-NHLers named to the Swedish squad for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake.

He won a gold medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics and then again in the 2006 World Championship in Riga, playing a part in the historic international sweep (both Olympic and World Champion the same year). Zetterberg is one of only eight players in the world to capture this sweep.

[edit] Awards

  • Elitserien Rookie of the Year in 2001.
  • Bronze medal at the 2001 and 2002 World Championships.
  • Played in the Elitserien All-Star Game in 2002.
  • Awarded Guldpucken (Swedish Player of the Year) in 2002.
  • Named to the Swedish All-Star Team in 2002.
  • Viking Award in 2002, awarded to the "Best Swede" in the NHL
  • Silver medal at the 2003 World Championships.
  • Awarded the Sporting News Rookie of the Year (voted on by NHL players) in 2003.
  • Named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2003. (Lead NHL rookies with 22 goals and 44 total points.)
  • Calder Trophy finalist in 2003.
  • Named to the Swedish All-Star Team in 2005.
  • Gold medal at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.
  • Gold medal at the 2006 World Championships.
  • Named to the NHL Western Conference All-Star Team in 2007.

[edit] Career stats

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1997-98 Timrå IK Swe-3 16 1 2 3 4 4 0 1 1 0
1998-99 Timrå IK Swe-3 37 15 13 28 2 4 2 1 3 2
1999-00 Timrå IK Swe-2 42 20 14 34 20 10 10 4 14 4
2000-01 Timrå IK Elitserien 47 15 31 46 24 - - - - -
2001-02 Timrå IK Elitserien 48 10 22 32 20 - - - - -
2002-03 Detroit Red Wings NHL 79 22 22 44 8 4 1 0 1 0
2003-04 Detroit Red Wings NHL 61 15 28 43 14 12 2 2 4 4
2004-05 Timrå IK Elitserien 50 19 31 50 24 7 6 2 8 2
2005-06 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 39 46 85 30 6 6 0 6 2
Elitserien totals 145 44 84 128 68 7 6 2 8 2
NHL totals 217 76 96 172 52 22 9 2 11 6

Statistics as of the end of the 2005-06 NHL season

[edit] International play

Olympic medal record
Men's Ice hockey
Gold 2006 Turin Ice hockey

[edit] International statistics

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
2001 Sweden WC 9 1 3 4 2
2002 Sweden Oly 4 0 1 1 0
2002 Sweden WC 9 0 7 7 4
2003 Sweden WC 9 3 4 7 2
2004 Sweden WCH 4 1 1 2 4
2005 Sweden WC 9 2 4 6 4
2006 Sweden Oly 8 3 3 6 0
2006 Sweden WC 8 2 3 5 6
Senior int'l totals 60 12 26 38 22

Statistics as of May 22, 2006

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ (Swedish) Yzermans arvtagare. Aftonbladet.se. Retrieved on August 11, 2006.
  2. ^ Niyo, John (2007). No All-Star for Zetterberg. The Detroit News. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
  3. ^ Kulfan, Ted (2007). Zetterberg puts on show for Great One. The Detroit News. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Mikael Renberg		 Golden Puck
2002		 Succeeded by
Niklas Andersson
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../h/e/n/Henrik_Zetterberg_ad9f.html"