The NHL’s Quarter-Century Team was created to honor the most impactful players of the last 25 years, including Hall of Fame players, record breakers, and some of the greatest of any generation.
Henrik Zetterberg, one of the greatest Red Wings of all time, would have landed in the segment of skaters who debuted between 2000-2010. The list is full of irrefutably great talent, including Patrice Bergeron, Sidney Crosby, Pavel Datsyuk, Patrick Kane, Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos. The legacy, leadership, skill, and influence of these players is undeniable. They shaped 21st century hockey, but so did Swedish phenom, Henrik Zetterberg.
The legend of Zetterberg
Unlike Stamkos and Bergeron – okay and Datsyuk – Zetterberg is a Conn Smythe Award winner for being the most valuable player in the playoffs. He also has more Stanley Cup championships than Bergeron and as many as Stamkos.
He finished just shy of a point per game, with a remarkable +160 rating, higher than Ovechkin, Stamkos, or Malkin. While plus/minus is not the best mark of a player, it can at least indicate a player is consistently doing something right. In this case, it shows that he is a much better two-way player than those three.
Zetterberg is also a member of the exclusive Triple Gold Club, alongside Crosby, Bergeron, and Datsyuk.
Zetterberg had elite vision, defensive responsibility, and was a natural leader. He was not flashy, but that only makes his consistency more impressive. While others dominated highlight reels, Zetterberg quietly dominated entire shifts.
Omitting Zetterberg was a snub
The thing about the players on the list is that almost all of them were expected to perform at an elite level and they delivered. The only exception to that was Pavel Datsyuk. Datsyuk was picked 171st overall in the 1998 NHL entry draft. He was an obscure player who was not lighting up the Russian Superleague. So, he flew under the radar. He was, without a doubt, the best pick that year, becoming a rare sixth-round draft pick to make the Hall of Fame.
Zetterberg is cut from the same cloth. He was drafted 210th overall in 1999 by Detroit and became an elite two-way player. Datsyuk was a magician, but Z was more of a durable leader. One is already in the Hall of Fame and the other Euro Twin likely will follow soon enough. Both should be on the Quarter-Century team.
Facing the rival Colorado Avalanche in a 2007 game, Zetterberg put on a clinic, getting two shorthanded goals in the game. It was an unforgettable night that highlighted the type of player Zetterberg was and just how he could play at an elite level in any zone.
Being down two men against a lethal Pittsburgh powerplay was just another day at the office for Zetterberg. It was a thing of beauty to watch him block shots, disrupt passes, clear the puck, get a scoring change, and get his own rebound killing roughly a minute of play. Who needs flashy play when you can do all of that?
Zetterberg was not one to drop the gloves, but he happily obliged when Evgeni Malkin came calling. It was sweet to watch the oversized Russian get taken down by the soft-handed two-way player.
Zetterberg scores three goals against the Blues
Throughout his career, Zetterberg notched seven hat tricks, but his 2013 five-point night against the St. Louis Blues was one for the ages. Gordie Howe should not be the only one with a type of hat trick to his name. A power play goal, even strength goal, and a shorthanded goal should be a Zetterberg Hat Trick.
Zetterberg shuts down Crosby
In the 2008 and 2009 Finals, Zetterberg consistently shut down Sidney Crosby. The irony? Crosby made the list. Zetterberg did not.
