Detroit Red Wings Captain Henrik Zetterberg Calls it a Career

It is official; the time has come to bid farewell to the captain.  Detroit Red Wings leader Henrik Zetterberg is no longer able to continue his professional hockey career.

The stall customarily occupied by Zetterberg in the Detroit Red Wings locker room will now be vacant. The next time we see a winged wheel number 40 in Detroit will be when it sways suspended high above the ice inside of Little Caesars Arena.

Henrik Zetterberg wasn’t just a leader; he has been the heartbeat of the Detroit Red Wings over the past decade. Similar to Nicklas Lidstrom before him, Zetterberg has always led by example and has been a fantastic professional on and off the ice.  It’s a somber day for Detroit Red Wings fans and the city of Detroit.

Henrik Zetterberg was never known as a flashy player but he, in the quietest way possible produced.  Zetterberg finished 5th in three Detroit Red Wings all-time scoring categories.  Zetterberg achieved 337 goals, 623 assists for a total of 960 points.  Zetterberg also concludes his career with plus 160 rating.  That is sixth best in Red Wings history.

It’s unfortunate that the lingering back injury that has hampered Zetterberg on and off since 2014 will prevent him from reaching the 1000 point milestone.  Hank currently sits 40 points shy of the marker.

Today the captain spoke with Dana Wakiji from DetroitRedWings.com in Traverse City ;

"“For me, I’ve kind of been living this for a while,” Zetterberg said. “Starting in January last year I knew something was not quite right. I found a way to play through that season but kind of mid-summer here when we hoped it was going to get a little bit better and it kind of wasn’t. I went to see Dr. Camissa last week and got the final result and nothing really had changed, so that’s kind of when it kicked in.“Obviously, it is emotional. It’s been 15 years here. Even though I knew I was on my last couple years, I wish that I could have played a little bit longer.”"

Ken Holland also talked about Hank’s condition;

"“Part of the degenerative condition is significant arthritis,” Holland said. “Nothing can be done, no back surgery, no rehab, no more time off is going to have any positive impact. Obviously if he plays professional hockey, it’s going to accelerate the degeneration and if he does get a bad hit or something, then he’s risking a significant back surgery. Henrik has decided that his quality of life is more important than taking the risk of back surgery.”"

Henrik Zetterberg is not just a player who is easily replaced.  The void Zetterberg leaves will be significant.  Z is a player the young kids could look to for guidance and advice will no longer be there on the bench, locker room, during team meals to offer his opinion. Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina will both suffer the most immediately but another leader will need to step up and take these young players under their wing.

Zetterberg hasn’t been the player he once was, a lot to do with the bad back.  Father time was also starting to tug at the back of his jersey slowing him down.  That being said, Henrik Zetterberg played hard every night.  When a player demonstrates the will to compete through adversity night in and night out, it won’t, take long for the coaching staff, teammates and fans to take notice.

It’s the end of an era in Detroit.  Hank is a Red Wing through and through and always will be.  We will miss seeing 40 on the ice, but that jersey will look terrific high above it.  Hank is one of the greatest Detroit Red Wings of all-time.  Thanks for the memories, Hank.