Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

As he finds rejuvenation at home and at work, Henrik Zetterberg also has found philosophy.

The captain of the Detroit Red Wings is playing stellar hockey at what he describes as his fossil age, demonstrating what inner drive can accomplish. It can, for example, mean a seventh-round draft pick not known for his skating can last 1,000 games, a milestone Zetterberg, 36, is on track to reach in the April 9 finale at Joe Louis Arena. Zetterberg does so having just reached his 900th career point.

“He is a Hall of Fame player,” former Wings coach Scotty Bowman said. “He is such a good two-way player. It's so reliable as a coach to have a guy like him, because you could play him against anybody. In 2008, he was going head-to-head against Sidney Crosby. Z was able to neutralize him.”

It speaks to Zetterberg’s perseverance and dedication that nearly one decade and one back surgery later, he remains a dominant player.

“He is the most consistent player I have ever played with,” teammate Frans Nielsen said. “He just doesn't have bad games. He has had a lot of points this year, but even when he is not on the scoreboard, he still brings a lot to the team the way he plays defensively.”

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Zetterberg is the Wings’ go-to answer. Forward in a slump? Put him with Zetterberg and watch the points come -- see Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar and Anthony Mantha as examples. In trouble with the puck? Get it to Zetterberg.

“When our D have the puck and they see him, they are always looking to give it to him and then when he gets it, he slows the game down to the speed he wants,” Dylan Larkin said. “He is good east-west, but he is not the fastest north-south, but you never see other guys catch up to him and take the puck right off him. He is so good at protecting, it holding it. He finds guys on the back side, open guys who put it in the net. He controls the pace of play and a lot of times, he controls the game itself.”

The Wings drafted Zetterberg at 210th overall in 1999, a year after drafting Pavel Datsyuk in the sixth round, at 171st overall. Soon after Zetterberg joined Datsyuk in Detroit in the 2002-03 season, Kris Draper nicknamed the pair “Euro Twins” for their effortless chemistry on the ice and charming friendship off it. Now Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall are the team’s elders, and Zetterberg is about to become the seventh player in club history to log 1,000 games, joining Gordie Howe, Nicklas Lidstrom, Alex Delvecchio, Steve Yzerman, Kris Draper and Tomas Holmstrom.

“When you come into the league like I did, you don’t have that much expectation,” Zetterberg said. “You are just happy to be here, to get a chance to play over here. I hoped I'd last for a bit, but I didn’t have a thousand games in mind. I'm thrilled about it and looking forward to that game.

“It’s gone really fast, I can tell you that. When I came into the league, you thought that some of the guys on the team were really old. And now me and Nik are the those guys. The fossils.”

Rising star

Zetterberg first caught the eyes of chief of European scouting Hakan Andersson and then-Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill while playing in Zetterberg's native Sweden. He played in the Swedish Elite League from 2000-2002, where he did so well he ended up on the 2002 Swedish Olympic team at age 22.

“When the Swedes selected him to play at Olympics, we knew we had a tremendous young player on our hands,” general manager Ken Holland said. “He ended up being second in voting for the Calder (Trophy for NHL rookie of the year).

“During the work stoppage in 2004-05, he went back and played in Sweden and led the Swedish league in scoring. When he and Pav came back, that’s when they really took the torch from Stevie.”

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Yzerman and Zetterberg met as opponents when Yzerman’s Canada played Sweden in the Olympics. “It was my first look at him live,” Yzerman said. “He was really good. Made a great play on his backhand on a two-on-one. From that moment on, it was just, this guy is really good.

“He has never, ever looked back.”

Zetterberg was named alternate captain in 2005, and went on to produce what was then career highs with 39 goals and 85 points in 77 games. Two seasons later saw him deliver what still stands as his best career numbers with 43 goals and 92 points in 75 games. He followed that up with 13 goals and 27 points as he helped lead the Wings to the Stanley Cup championship, earning the Conn Smythe as the playoff MVP.

Zetterberg not only excelled offensively, he was so adept at both ends of the ice that then-Wings coach Mike Babcock often used him on the penalty kill, including 5-on-3s.

“He is an unbelievable player with unbelievable determination,” Babcock said. “Hockey sense, determination, the drive to win. The ability to bring it every day. Z is doing everything he can to push the team.”

Whatever it took, Zetterberg delivered.

“From the day that he came into the organization, he was very mature and professional in the way he conducted himself on a daily basis,” Yzerman said. “He has special qualities as a leader. He is a tremendous all-around player. From Day 1, he had all those abilities, which I really admire, because a lot of us had to learn all that stuff. And he knew it as a young man.

“He has just been a fantastic leader for the team. And he is what, 36 now? He’s having a quietly tremendous season for the team.”

Zetterberg’s season is all the more remarkable considering that three years ago, he was in such bad shape he had to pull out of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. His back hurt so much that as he carried his backpack onto the plane back to the U.S., Bruins defensemen Zdeno Chara grabbed the bag from Zetterberg and carried it for him.

Zetterberg underwent surgery, and remarkably returned for the last two games of the first round, which saw the Wings lose to Chara’s Bruins in five games.

“Many players would have said, wait till next year,” Holland said. “Z did what he could to help our team in the playoffs.

“There is a reason he has accomplished what he has. He’s competitive, leads by example. He’s got a burning desire for success.”

When Lidstrom retired in 2012, Zetterberg was the natural choice to take over as captain, officially named so on Jan. 15, 2013, after the NHL returned following another stoppage. Like Yzerman and Lidstrom, Zetterberg is an example-setting, speak-softly leader.

“He’s got an elite hockey mind and competitiveness,” Carolina Hurricanes head coach and former Wings assistant coach Bill Peters said. “Just a good pro, really, really a good pro. Learned from good leaders before him and he continues that tradition. ... Whoever is on his line, you are going to get some scoring opportunities because he gets you the puck.”

Unbelievable determination

This spring will see the Wings miss the playoffs for the first time in 26 seasons, but not for lack of Zetterberg trying to get them there. A year after he spoke of his own disappointment in how quietly he’d finished 2015-16 and vowing to do better, Zetterberg stands as an example of backing up his words with his play. With 64 points after 77 games, nine of his goals and 27 of his assists had come after the season’s midpoint.

“Even now, the team is not as strong as it used to be, but he shows up every game,” Bowman said.

Mike Modano, the Livonia native who played the last 40 of his 1,499 career games with the Wings in 2010-11, noted “not too many guys can say they played 1,000 games with the same team. That makes it cool.

“I think when you get to his age and you have had that success, there is a lot of pride to be able to take it as far as you can. There are always outside variables that come into play, but Z has always seemed to prepare well, he takes great care of himself, has a great routine to get ready. He has an expectation level of himself, and he wants to maintain that. But it does get harder as you get into your late 30s.”

Zetterberg will become the 54th player in NHL history to log 1,000 games with one franchise. That his milestone is tracking to fall on the same night Joe Louis Arena hosts its final hockey game adds to what will be a historic night.

“Henrik is a high-profile player, a big part of the organization,” pro scout and former Wings forward Kirk Maltby said. “He has always been a real smart player. That his health still stands up after he had back surgery is a tribute to what he has done off the ice.

“He’s never been a fast skater but he puts himself in positions so he doesn’t have to get in a foot race. Physically he is not a big guy. He’s lean. But the way he is able to control the puck, he is almost like Jaromir Jagr, who is a big, thick heavy guy. It’s amazing Hank can do that against bigger, younger guys. We couldn't have asked him to have a better year.”

Teammates often refer to how Zetterberg carries the team, how he makes little plays that change a game, like when he created a last-second scoring chance March 3 at Calgary by having amazing time-awareness.

“He plays the game at his speed and controls the game when he is out there,” teammate Justin Abdelkader said. “His smarts for the game are some of the best ever. He doesn’t panic with the puck. His awareness of the game, and with the puck on his stick, he makes the right play all the time.”

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Head coach Jeff Blashill likes to tell how coming into the season, he was prepared to cut Zetterberg's minutes because of his age.

“I let it play out, and he has demanded more minutes,” Blashill said. “It sure looks like he is at the top of his game.

“Greatness doesn’t happen by happenstance, it happens by work, and he puts an unbelievable amount of work in. He is a great example for young guys of how hard you work every day. His fierce competitive level every single game – he just refuses to lose puck battles - is a real lesson for guys. He has defied odds since he was drafted because of that competitive level.”

Fossil fuel

Zetterberg cherishes both the older and younger players that surround him in the locker room. Kronwall understands him, Larkin and other young players such as Andreas Athanasiou and Mantha rejuvenate him. Perhaps Zetterberg's biggest inspiration is Love, the son he and his wife, Emma, welcomed in August 2015.

“That was a big moment in our lives and it definitely keeps you a little younger,” Zetterberg said. “Having a chance to bring him down to the locker room and practices and games, that is something I did when I was a kid, followed my dad to practices and games, and that meant a lot to me when I was younger.”

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When he is on the road, Zetterberg kills time by watching Game of Thrones and reading books in Swedish. Something in which he can lose himself and pass time. He and Kronwall are regular dinner companions, sharing laughs and memories.

“I think one of the reasons he is playing as well as he is is that he is really taking everything in and enjoying it,” Kronwall said. “I can tell how much this means to him, to get to 1000 games. It really is amazing what he has done.”

Zetterberg has four years left on the 12-year, $73 million contract extension he signed in January of 2009. He parries questions about how much longer he will play because who can possibly predict that? So long as his health holds up, there’s little reason to contemplate retirement. Zetterberg was never a swift skater, and smarts don’t deteriorate.

“You stay in the moment, see how your body feels and react,” Zetterberg said. “It has been a challenging season because in the past we have been in the playoff hunt. The last month here, when you start to realize how many games we’d have to win and when we didn’t do that – even though it wasn’t officially set that we would not make the playoffs, you saw the hill was too hard to climb.

“I’ve learned to not look too far ahead. Enjoy the moment. I am looking forward to the games left and then a turn-around season next year. Even though it has been a rough year, this is still the thing I love to do the most. You just try to find the positive things.”

Zetterberg takes great pride in what he does, it’s why he has been able to do it for so long. When it looked like his career might be hampered by his back, he altered his workouts and his game preparation.

“When you get older, you realize you are getting closer to the end and you want to take advantage of the days you have left,” Zetterberg said. “This is special. You want to keep going and you want to do it well.

“Me and Nik talk about that a lot. You have to find the positive things, even in rough times. We are still doing the thing we love the most.”

Zetterberg has turned his love into longevity, and is now on the cusp of turning in 1,000 games. A decade and a half has yielded membership in the Triple Gold Club, as Zetterberg has a Stanley Cup title, world championship gold and Olympic gold. As his career heads towards twilight, reflection brings pride and perspective.

“It has gone fast,” Zetterberg said, “but it has been an unbelievable journey.”

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Check out our Red Wings Xtra app on Apple and Android!

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