Henrik Zetterberg

Henrik Zetterberg (born on October 9, 1980) is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre/left wing and captain of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Along with winning the Stanley Cup in 2008, Henrik won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

He also won gold medals in the 2006 Ice Hockey World Championships and 2006 Winter Olympics, making him a member of the Triple Gold Club.

Hockey Career in Sweden
Henrik started out by playing his youth league games for the Njurunda Sports Club as did Fredrik Modin.

In 2008, the club renamed their arena (until then known as Njurunda Ishall) to Modin & Zetterberg-hallen in their honor.

Henrik caught the attention of the Red Wings' Assistant General Manager Jim Nill and Director of European Scouting Håkan Andersson during a tournament in Finland.

While Andersson was trying to point out Mattias Weinhandl, Nill could not help noticing "this little Zetterberg guy who always seemed to have the puck."

Henrik was selected by the Detroit Red Wings 210th overall in the seventh round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

At the time, Detroit was under criticism for "mortgaging its future," trading away many of its earlier picks in the 1999 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.

NHL Career
On October 10, 2002, Henrik made his NHL debut against the San Jose Sharks at the Joe Louis Arena.

He played in 79 games his rookie season, scoring 22 goals and 22 assists for 44 points, leading all first-year players.

Henrik finished the season as runner-up for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year behind St. Louis Blues defenceman Barret Jackman.

In his second season, he nearly matched his rookie stats despite missing 21 games due to a broken leg suffered against the Vancouver Canucks early in the season on November 5, 2003.

Due to the owners' lockout the next season, Henrik returned to Sweden to play for Timrå IK in 2004–05, leading the Elitserien in scoring with 50 points in 50 games.

As the NHL resumed in 2005–06, Henrik emerged as an NHL star and was also named an alternate captain in the absence of team captain Steve Yzerman.

He enjoyed his second best statistical season in 2005–06, tallying 39 goals and 85 points, second in team-scoring to Pavel Datsyuk in a lineup which included Zetterberg and teammates Tomas Holmstrom, Mikael Samuelsson, Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall (sometimes Andreas Lilja).

The combination was dubbed the "Swedish Five", a concept similar to the famed Russian Five of the Red Wings during the 1990s.

All five players would also skate together at the 2006 Winter Olympics, helping Sweden to a gold medal.

With the announced retirement of Steve Yzerman during the season, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet speculated that Henrik might take over the captaincy for the Red Wings, but Nicklas Lidstrom was named Yzerman's successor instead while Henrik was named an alternate on the day of the Red Wings' 2006–07 season opener.

That season, Henrik was selected for the 2007 NHL All-Star Game, but he withdrew to rest an injured wrist.

Later in the year, Henrik scored his 100th career goal against the Phoenix Coyotes on February 8, 2007, prompting Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky to comment that Henrik is "probably the most underrated player in the league."

Nine days later, on February 17, 2007 (in another game against the Coyotes), Henrik picked up his first career hat-trick, all power play goals and added an assist on an empty-net goal by Jason Williams for a four-point game. He finished the season with 68 points in his injury-shortened 63-game season.

Henrik began the 2007–08 NHL season with a 16-game point-scoring streak, breaking the record of 14 games set by former Red Wing Norm Ullman in 1960.

He was voted to start for the Western Conference in the 2008 NHL All-Star Game alongside teammates Chris Osgood (who was named a starter after Roberto Luongo declined), Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk, but he did not play in the game due to back problems.

Despite missing time due to injury, Henrik recorded a career-year with personal bests of 43 goals, 49 assists and 92 points in 75 games.

He went on to add a 27 points in 22 playoff games, leading the Red Wings to the 2008 Stanley Cup championship, their 11th in team history.

In game six of the Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Henrik scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP afterwards.

Henrik's 13 playoff goals tied with teammate Johan Franzen for the Red Wings record for most in a single postseason.

At the end of the season, Henrik was also up for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward, but finished as a runner-up to teammate Pavel Datsyuk.

In the final year of Henrik's contract in 2008–09, he agreed to a 12-year, $73 million contract extension with the Red Wings on January 28, 2009. The deal is the longest and most lucrative in franchise history.

During the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Henrik recorded 11 goals and 13 assists for the Red Wings that saw them reach Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, only to lose to their 2008 opponent the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Despite a slow start to the 2009-10 NHL season, Henrik's play quickly improved, and he recorded the fourth hat trick of his career on November 14, 2009 against the Anaheim Ducks, scoring three goals in the third period of Detroit's 7–4 victory.

He scored seven goals during the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs which saw Detroit bow out in the second round against San Jose.

In the 2010-11 NHL season, Henrik posted 80 points in 80 games, however, the Red Wings were eliminated in the 2nd round of the Playoffs again to San Jose.

In the 2011-12 NHL season, Henrik played on the 2nd line alongside Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler.

Both teammates had career seasons playing on the line centered by Henrik. Filppula scored a career high 66 points while Hudler had a 50 point season (25 goals, 25 assists).

The Red Wings fell 4–1 to the Nashville Predators in the first round of the Playoffs, their earliest playoff exit since 2006.

During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Henrik signed with EV Zug in Switzerland.

On January 15, 2013, Henrik was named the captain of the Red Wings, succeeding Nicklas Lidstrom who retired following the previous season.

Sweden Hockey Awards

 * Rookie of the Year (2001)
 * All-Star Team	(2002 & 2005)
 * Guldpucken (2002)

NHL Awards

 * All-Rookie Team (2003)
 * All-Star Game (2007 & 2008) (did not play in 2008 due to injury)
 * Second All-Star Team (2008)
 * Conn Smythe Trophy (2008)
 * Stanley Cup (2008)
 * NHL Foundation Player Award (2013)

Other Awards

 * Named "Detroit Red Wings Rookie of the Year" in 2003 by the Detroit Sports Broadcasters' Association for his play during the 2002–03 season.
 * Awarded the Sporting News Rookie of the Year (voted on by NHL players) in 2003.
 * Named "The Hockey News Player of the Month" for October of 2007
 * Viking Award in 2007 and 2008, awarded to the "Best Swede" playing in North America
 * Named the first recipient of the "TSN NHL Player of the Year" in 2008 by a panel of 30 people around the NHL.

Records

 * Holds a Red Wings record for having at least one point in 17 consecutive games to start a season.
 * Holds the Red Wings franchise record for goals (13 – tied w/ Johan Franzen) and points (27) in a single playoff season.
 * Lowest-drafted NHL player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (no undrafted player has yet won the award).
 * Holds NHL record for most shots on goal in single post season with 116 in 2007–08.

International Play
Henrik 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 four of the five years he has appeared in that tournament.

Henrik was one of just two non-NHLers named to the Swedish squad for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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 international sweep (both Olympic and World Champion the same year). Henrik is one of only eight players to capture this sweep.

With the 2008 Stanley Cup championship, Henrik became a member of the Triple Gold Club. The term is used for an exclusive group of ice hockey players who have won Olympic gold, World Championship gold, and the Stanley Cup.

He is one of 24 members of this exclusive club, a club that also includes several teammates and his current head coach.

Personal Life
Henrik is one of the few players in the NHL who served some sort of military service as Sweden has compulsory conscription.

In the summer of 2008, Henrik became engaged to Swedish model & television host Emma Andersson. On July 23, 2010, they married in the bride's hometown in Molle, Sweden.

Henrik goes by the nicknames of "Zäta" (pronounced "Zaeta" which means "Z" in Swedish), "Z", "Curly Fries", "Zeekerberg" and "Hank," an anglicized shortening of Henrik that is used by his Red Wings teammates.

The latest nickname given to him, by teammate Pavel Datsyuk is "Zetty the Grizzly Teddy." He also goes by the nickname "Rick" by some of his comrades.

Henrik and his fellow linemate Pavel Datsyuk have been nicknamed by commentators and the Detroit media as the "Euro Twins" and "The Hank and Pav Show." He also carries the nickname "Sasha," which he was given by Tomas Holmstrom to match "Pasha" Datsyuk.

In 2007, he appeared lightly disguised under the name "Henrik Berg" in a Swedish novel called "Mitt Timmerå" by Emil Siekkinen.