Posts tagged HenrikZetterberg at FanHouse

About the only way the 2007-08 NHL season could have ended better for Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin would have been with the Stanley Cup. But with that goal temporarily out of reach, Ovechkin seemed more than pleased to add the Hart and Lester Pearson Trophies to a collection that already included this year's version of the Art Ross and the Richard as well as the 2006 Calder as the league's Rookie of the Year.

But as much as the night belonged to Ovechkin -- the rest of the day in Washington, D.C. will belong to him too with plenty of public celebrations and a dinner-hour party and press event at one of the town's swankiest eateries -- there was plenty of other star power in the audience last night in Toronto for the NHL Awards. One who admitted plenty of surprise at being in the room was Ovechkin's head coach, Bruce Boudreau, who took top honors as winner of the Jack Adams as coach of the year. As it would turn out, the Caps would miss a clean sweep for their nominees when Chicago's Patrick Kane edged out Nicklas Backstrom for the Calder.

After 104 games (for the Red Wings, 102 for the Penguins), the NHL season has come to a close. With a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Detroit Red Wings are hoisting the Stanley Cup tonight.

For every hockey fan that wanted an exciting game, they certainly got their fill tonight. The Wings jumped to a 2-0 lead on goals by Brian Rafalski and Valtteri Filppula, the Pens fought back with a big goal by Evgeni Malkin to close out the second period. With the Pens' buzzing early in the third, Marc-Andre Fleury let a puck trickle through his legs, then knocked it into the net. The goal was credited to Henrik Zetterberg and it proved to be just barely too much for the Penguins. Marian Hossa added a goal minute and a half to go, then Sidney Crosby snuck one past Chris Osgood that trickled in the crease and very nearly crossed the line with about 0.2 seconds on the clock.

Still, almost counts for nothing and there's really no question that Detroit has been the best team during both the regular season and the playoffs. Nicklas Lidstrom becomes the first European captain to hold the Cup, Henrik Zetterberg wins the Conn Smythe, and it's hard to argue that they don't deserve it. Congrats to the Wings, the 2008 Stanley Cup Champions.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

It's tough to find a whole lot more to say about Game Four of the Stanley Cup Finals that hasn't already been written. The Pittsburgh Penguins, a young team that had looked so promising at the start of this series, is now staring down the barrel of a 3-1 series deficit. And if it hadn't been for Tomas Holmstrom striking a post in the 3rd period of Game Three, this series could very well already be over.

What was the difference in Game Four? It all came down to two moments: Jiri Hudler's second third period goal, one that would have been impossible if defenseman Brad Stuart hadn't managed to hold the puck in the zone just seconds before; and Detroit's masterful kill of a 5-on-3 power play midway through the third period, one where Henrik Zetterberg proved just how much he deserved that Selke Trophy nomination by tying up Sidney Crosby while he had a chance to stuff a puck in on Chris Osgood's doorstep.

That's usually all it takes in the Stanley Cup Finals, just one or two moments when the other guy is willing to sacrifice a little bit more than you are. Of course, you never exactly know when those moments are going to come, which means you need to be sure to sacrifice like that on every last shift. The Wings have. Pittsburgh hasn't. It really is that simple.

It was an interesting start to the Stanley Cup Finals, there's no doubt about that.

Pittsburgh came out strong and took it to the Wings pretty well in the first, forcing Chris Osgood to bail his team out as the period went on. Detroit's play, which had started out strong, crumbled as they ran into penalty trouble in the second half of the first 20 minutes. As the game went on, however, Pittsburgh trailed off and Detroit regained its footing, taking command in the second and third periods.

Detroit held Pittsburgh to just seven shots over the course of the final 40 minutes of the game, after allowing 12 in the first 20. They held the "big three" of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Marian Hossa to just eight shots combined. Compare that to Henrik Zetterberg's eight shots on his own. That Zetterberg was able to manage eight shots while remaining so focused on his defensive responsibilities is pretty incredible.

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After what seems like an interminable wait, the Stanley Cup Finals are finally here. As more folks than I can say have already mentioned, we'll be treated to what the league reportedly thinks is a dream matchup: The best team in the regular season, the Detroit Red Wings, against the Pittsburgh Penguins and their young superstar, Sidney Crosby.

Of course, we all know that there's a heck of a lot more to the Pens than Crosby, where Evgeni Malkin may ultimately prove to be Crosby's equal -- or dare I say his better?

That means it's time to bring out our panel once again for our look at the Finals.

This morning I was kicking around Mirtle's place reading his SC Compendium, and I couldn't help but notice that not only are the Pens significantly younger, they're also significantly bigger -- to the tune of an average of almost two inches and 13 pounds per man. Granted, I'm sure Hal Gill skews the bell curve a little in Pittsburgh, but might this not be significant? Given how disciplined they've been defensively thus far, might the Pens have the opportunity to bang the Wings in much the same way the Ducks did in last year's Western Conference Final?

Detroit Red Wings fans hope for this moment every season, the moment where their team advances to the Stanley Cup Finals. It hasn't happened in six years and every season in between has brought disappointment as a fanbase used to winning sees its team fall short of its expectations.

As a Wings fan who has watched the team falter in the first, second, and third rounds for the past four seasons, I've had my share of disappointment since watching them compete for the Cup in 2002. Each season, the team has been built to win only to fall short. That ends this season with a Red Wings squad that may be as good as any before it.

I've got five reasons the Wings will take the Cup over Pittsburgh.

1. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk

They may not have the glamour of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but to me there is no doubt that Detroit's dynamic duo of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk is made up of the better overall players. Crosby and Malkin are offensive masterminds, but Datsyuk and Zetterberg excel at both ends of the rink. Malkin and Crosby are becoming more defensively responsible, but they still cannot compete on that front with the Wings' "Eurotwins." Those two can shut down the opposition and remain active offensively.

Bruce MacLeod, the hockey beat writer for the Macomb Daily, reports that the Detroit Red Wings will formally shuffle their second, third, and fourth lines for tonight's Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. The top line, composed of Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Tomas Holmstrom, will remain unchanged.

The main move is the promotion of Jiri Hudler from the fourth line to the second, where he spent much of Game 5. He'll skate on Valtteri Filppula's wing with Dan Cleary.

With 13 points, the diminutive Czech is Detroit's fourth-leading playoff scorer despite averaging just 10:58 in ice time troughout the postseason. He scored the only Detroit goal in Game 5.

Hudler has long produced consistently at a rate out of proportion to his ice time, but has had trouble gaining a second line spot on a deep Detroit squad. He has a bit of a reputation of having a poor work ethic and is considered to be among the weakest Detroit forwards in his own end. The first charge is largely unfounded, as Hudler generally shows a lot of hustle. There's something to the second charge, but he has made enormous strides since hitting the NHL. Apparently, not enough, as his continued relegation to fourth line purgatory indicates.

As a consolation, head coach Mike Babcock lets him out of the doghouse long enough to quarterback the second power play unit. He has matched Zetterberg's power play production this post-season.

The Associated Press reports that Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen will miss his fourth consecutive game as the Wings take on the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals Saturday afternoon.

Franzen's time on the sidelines began after the forward complained of headaches following Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Evidently, he began experiencing persistent pain early in the Semifinal series between Detroit and Colorado, but kept that to himself until Friday morning. No single incident has been pinpointed as the cause of the headaches.

The team labeled his condition "concussion-like symptoms and he was kept from physical activity until being cleared for off-ice exercises yesterday. Detroit General Manager Ken Holland told the Macomb Daily's Bruce MacLeod that Franzen will not hit the ice until tomorrow at the earliest.

These Russian to English translations are coming fast and furious now. But now, instead of taking a look at the IIHF World Championships, we got hold of an interview Sovetsky' Sports' Natalia Bragilevskaya did with Evgeni Malkin last night after Pittsburgh's Game Three win over Philadelphia. Thanks once again to Sovetsky's Washington correspondent, Dmitriy Chesnokov, for giving us a hand. The big news in this interview: Malkin revealing how the third Pittsburgh goal last night essentially deflated the Flyers and ended the game.

Why can't the Flyers compete with your team even at home?

"To be honest, the game was very difficult for us. Right until the third period the score was 2-1, and only towards the end of the period did we extend the lead. When we scored the third goal, the Flyers gave up. They had had a lot of difficult games. It was obvious they were tired. And our schedule wasn't as intense. We are looking fresher and are skating better."

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

The Detroit Red Wings pushed the Dallas Stars to the brink of elimination last night with a 5-2 win last night in Game 3. The Stars played the Wings fairly close until they gave up a shorthanded goal to Henrik Zetterberg early in the third period. Detroit then put on a passing clinic and allowed Dallas just four shots in the final frame.

Zetterberg's goal was a highlight reel tally as the Red Wing forward took the puck nearly coast-to-coast and beat Brad Richards one-on-one before sending a shot past Marty Turco. The goal made it 4-2 Detroit and was a backbreaker for the Stars. They no longer look like giant killers, as evidenced by the poor backchecking effort by Stephane Robidas and Mike Ribeiro on Zetterberg's goal.

Pavel Datsyuk had a big night for Detroit, notching his first career hat trick as he continues to debunk the myth that he does not show up for the playoffs. Jiri Hudler scored the other Detroit goal. Nicklas Grossman and Brad Richards scored for Dallas.