Henrik Zetterberg

Position	Left Wing
Shoots	Left
Nickname(s)	Hank, Zäta, Zetter
Height Weight	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 195 lb (88 kg/13.9 st)
NHL Team	Detroit Red Wings
Nationality	Sweden
Born	October 9 1980 (1980-10-09) (age 27), Njurunda, SWE
NHL Draft	210th overall, 1999 Detroit Red Wings
Pro Career	2000 – present
Website	henrikzetterberg.com

Henrik Zetterberg (Born October 9, 1980 in Njurunda, Sweden) is a Swedish professional hockey player currently playing for the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League. His natural position is center, 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.

Playing career

Pre-NHL career

Henrik Zetterberg was selected by the Detroit Red Wings 210th overall in the seventh round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. Ironically, considering Zetterberg has emerged as arguably the best player of his class, Detroit was criticized at the time for "mortgaging its future," trading away many of its earlier picks in the '99 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 season. Before ending up with Timrå IK, Zetterberg played his youth league games for NSK (Njurunda Sports Club).

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 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 owners' lockout. He led the SEL in scoring with 50 points in 50 games.^[1]

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,^[2] but that proved to be speculation, as Nicklas Lidström 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.^[3] After Zetterberg scored his 100th career goal against the Phoenix Coyotes on February 8, 2007, Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky said Zetterberg is "probably the most underrated player in the league."^[4] Perhaps it was no coincidence that just nine days later, in a game against the Coyotes, Zetterberg picked up his first career hat-trick, all on the powerplay, and added an assist on an 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 Holmström, Mikael Samuelsson, Nicklas Lidström, 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. At the start of the 2007-2008 season, Zetterberg recorded at least one point in each of the Red Wings first 17 games, breaking the record of 14 games set by former Red Wing Norm Ullman in 1964.

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 four of the five 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.

Personal

Goes by the nicknames of "Zäta" (pronounced "Zaeta", which means "Z" in Swedish); and "Hank", an anglicized shortening of Henrik that is used by his Red Wings teammates. Zetterberg resides in Birmingham, Michigan during the NHL season, and drives a BMW X5 and a BMW M5. Was photographed with his pet pug "Donnie Bras" for the Detroit Red Wings "Canine Companions" charity calendar. He is currently dating Emma Andersson, a Swedish model and TV host.^[5]

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.
• 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.
• Viking Award in 2007, awarded to the "Best Swede" playing in North America
• Holds the Detroit Red Wings record for having at least one point in 17 consecutive games to start a season.

Career statistics

International play

• Played for Sweden in:
• 2001 World Championships (bronze medal)
• 2002 Winter Olympics
• 2002 World Championships (bronze medal)
• 2003 World Championships (silver medal)
• 2004 World Cup of Hockey
• 2005 World Championships
• 2006 Winter Olympics (gold medal)
• 2006 World Championships (gold medal)

International statistics

Statistics as of May 22, 2006

Notes

References

• Henrik Zetterberg. Elite Prospects. Retrieved on May 8, 2006.
• Henrik Zetterberg - player profile and career stats. European Hockey.Net. Retrieved on May 8, 2006.

External links

• HenrikZetterberg.com - Official Homepage
• Henrik Zetterberg's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• ZetterbergFan.com - Unofficial Fanpage
• Henrik Zetterberg - ESPN Player Card
• DetroitRedWings.com - Official Bio