It is a sad time now here in Hockeytown as we say goodbye to our captain Henrik Zetterberg. Z is having to retire now due to a degenerative back issue that he has been fighting for years. He even had to have surgery about 4 years ago when he had a flare up that knocked him out of the Olympics. Other than only honoring him here in this post though I have my own secondary agenda. And that is to say "I told you so!"... though I really wish I didn't.
Since the announcement and timeline was revealed on when the LCA was going to be up and running I have called Zetterbergs retirement plans to an absolute T. In July of 2014 Chris Illitch unveiled the renderings of the new arena and what the district Detroit was supposed to be. Coincidentally this announcement came just a few months after Z's back surgery, which he rushed back from for the playoffs. From this point on I new it was a very limited time that we had left for Z to be an active player.
So where did I get my reasoning for this? Its pretty simple if you use some deductive reasoning. At the time of his surgery and the arena announcement, he was approaching his mid-30's, with which most players begin to decline, if they haven't already. His partner in on ice crime Datsyuk was planning to leave in 1 more year to return to Russia. The team was beginning to be in a major state of decline. And he has already won virtually everything there is to win at this point, so why risk playing until you're 40 and jeopardizing your long term health? Not to mention he and his wife are superstars back home in Sweden, comparable to the likes of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (when they were together). Another throw in is that the couple had their 1st son in 2015, so the writing was all on the wall in bold for everyone to see...yet no one wanted to piece it together.
So how do we know I'm not making all this up that I was predicting this event? Oh well I have a few links from my Reddit account that are all nice and time stamped that I can share with you folks to show that I'm not bluffing here.
This 1st thread from a discussion about what player will no longer be on your team in 5 years time. This link is probably the most in depth about it but it proves my point none the less,
This 2nd thread is just discussion about whether Z will crack 1000pts for his career. Obviously now we all know he wont.
This one started more as my hopefulness that John Tavares would end up here, clearly didnt happen and I got it wrong but I wasn't alone as Pieere McGuire had us in that talk too. But as you scroll through and read the comments here I get more in depth convo with others who try to keep wearing blinders to hid from what is right in front of them.
Now like I said, I really wish I didn't predict this. Z has been one of my all time favorite players, and not just of the Wings but hockey as a whole. His drive and passion for the game are something to behold. He brought a blue collar work ethic with white collar skill to the ice every time he climbed over the boards. Watching him last season was amazing in retro spec. You could see the body was not keeping up with the mind, be his positioning was almost perfect to be able to make a solid play when needed. And those hands could still zip a pass to the far dot, all while looking the pressuring opponent off the other direction.
He leave behind an impressive resume as well. After being a Calder Trophy for rookie of the year runner up, when he had 22G and 22A he went on to play a total of 1,082 games in the NHL. In that time he amassed 337 G and 623 A, good for 960pts over his career in the regular season...one more and he would have no doubt cracked 1000pts. Almost more impressively are his playoff numbers, 137 games played, 57G and 63A, 120pts, and none more important than the 2008 Stanley Cup clinching goal in game 6! Let us not forget that he walked away that night with the Conn Smythe Trophy as well as the MVP of the playoffs.
Internationally he has been just as impressive! In 2006 he went on a rampage and won Gold Medals in both the Olympics and World Championship; most impressively during the Olympic run he posted a stat line of 3G-3A-6PTS with no penalty minutes in the 8 games that team Sweden play. In the Worlds that year the stats were virtually the same, only he was short 1 goal as compared to the Olympics. Add to those a few more Silver and Bronze medals and you have one hell of a collection to put up on the wall of fame.
With that resume it will be hard for the next captain of our great franchise to follow but something tells me that he will be up to the challenge. His leadership was invaluable to many who came through the locker room, especially that of our younger players. With the end officially here now it is a sad day. He led the team through a great transition into the future as we left behind The Joe and now have christened the LCA it is time he listens to his body and shuts it down. Let the debates begin, is he HHOF worthy? Will his jersey be retired? Who will become the next captain of the team? These are all discussions for another time. For now I just want to say Congrats on an amazing career and rest well with that beautiful beard of yours. The pleasure has been all ours.
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