Update: Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press Tweeted the following

Swedish media saying Zetterberg done for the tournament #bn #sochi14 — gary lawless (@garylawless) February 13, 2014



————————————————-

The Swedish Men’s Hockey team, who are already without Henrik Sedin and Johan Franzen, could be losing another star player to injury. The team announced on Thursday that first line centre Henrik Zetterberg has a herniated disc, and that his status going forward is unknown, though the team has said he is officially day-to-day. Zetterberg did not practice with the team on Thursday.

Team Sweden doctor Bjorn Waldenberg said Zetterberg has been dealing with the injury for several months.

“He has a problem with a disk hernia that we have been familiar with for some months ago, and he has had treatment in the U.S.,” he said on Thursday. “But he started here without any symptoms, and I think now the symptoms that he has is according to the disk problem.”

“We (have) not decided yet until we see how he is tomorrow, and then we can do the decision with him and also with the NHL doctors that are here,” he said. “We would of course not risk anything.”

“We told them also that we will take decision tomorrow and see how he feels and how he adjusts to anti-inflammatory treatment and rest.”

Zetterberg, who plays for the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL, scored what turned out to be the game winning goal in Sweden’s tournament opening 4-2 win over the Czech Republic on Wednesday. As the tournament has begun, the Swedes will be unable to replace him on the roster (though all teams were allowed 25 players ie two healthy scratch skaters in their full Olympic rosters).

Zetterberg was part of the Swedish team that won the 2006 Olympic Gold Medal in Torino/Turin. He also won gold at the 2006 IIHF World Championships, Silver at the 2003 World Championships, and Bronze medals at the 2002 and 2001 World Championships.

Zetterberg, the Red Wings captain, has 16 goals and 48 points in 45 games in the NHL so far this season. He has 279 goals and 720 points in 759 games in his NHL career. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy in helping the Red Wings to the 2008 Stanley Cup Championship. He has also been nominated for the Calder Trophy, and Selke Trophy in his distinguished NHL career.

Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @lastwordBkerr. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter –@LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.

Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our Baseball writing team. Visit our “Write for Us” page for very easy details in how you can get started today!

Main Photo Credit: Lukas Barth/dapd