He felt the puck in his hand and flipped it around a little bit. Dressed in a well-tailored navy suit and waiting just outside the Red Wings dressing room, this was all still a little bit weird for Henrik Zetterberg.



He’s done a million of these ceremonial puck drops as captain of the Red Wings. That came naturally. Skate out. Hold the stick. Smile with the opposing captain for an uncomfortably long time until all the photos were taken. Skate back to the bench. Instead, this was the first time he’d drop the puck as a former player. This, at about 7:45 p.m. on Thursday evening, is when it started to feel weird.



“Coming down today, it felt like a normal game. Same time. Left the house at the same time,” Zetterberg told The Athletic, moments before he walked out in front of the crowd. “But obviously it’s different.”



It’s definitely different.



Zetterberg is told that Justin Abdelkader will be taking the...