Zetter is Better!

Originally posted on Friday June 13, 2008 @ 05:27 PM EDT @ http://fans.nhl.com/members/JuiceinLA/blogs/16850

The guys want to be him and the girls want to , ahem, well, um…. this is a family blog.


Imagine if Brian Burke, Cliff Fletcher, Kevin Lowe and Bryan Murray; Guy Carbonneau, Wayne Gretzky, Tom Renney and Alain Vigneault; Martin Biron, Ryan Miller, Martin St. Louis, Joe Sakic, Joe Thornton and Marty Turco all thought you were the best player in the NHL this year?


Imagine if these guys thought that in this particular year you were better than your mentor, one of the greatest to ever play the game?


Well, that is what Hank Zetterberg woke up to find today. Another award bestowed on the guy who made our heads spin, who amazed every red wing fan during these finals, and quite a few non-redwing fans.


TSN.ca awarded Zetts player of the year. Nice!


At first I didn’t know /think much of this award. Then I saw the names of the people who voted. I was blown away. Consider not just the legends, Greztsky, Murray, Burke but note that Joe Sakic and Marty Turco were on this list too. And not a single active Red Wing representative voted on this award.


The respect and acknowledgment of your talent dedication and achievement, by peers and legends, those who have faced you and those who are probably glad they didn’t have to. What a gratifying circumstance.


To be honest, I came to the Zetts fan club a little late. The first time I really noticed Zetts was in 2005-2006 season. Oct 13, 2005: my Bro and I were in LA, about 12 rows up behind Manny at the Staples Center, enjoying the Wings (eventually and thoroughly) kick the Kings butts. We had both left the D during the lockout and hadn’t seen a live hockey game in what felt like YEARS. We were amped, talking about what we thought the lockout would have done to the team and players. I remember watching the first period and saying: “Damn, bro- who are some of these guys? I don’t recognize half the team!!!”


To be fair, during that game my attention was focused mainly on two issues: first I was little choked up because Ozzie wasn’t playing, and second my brother and I had talked about the fact that that game could be the last time we’d ever (personally) get to see Steve Yzerman on the ice. Ugh- that is still a tough thing to think about. Miss ya Stevie!


Really miss ya.


Slowly but surely I started to get into the swing of it again- a year off made me rusty. My thoughts flew all over, my conversation with my bro went something like this, is Datsyuk any good? oh hellya, geez he looks like Barry Sanders out there! Schnieder looks like he’s coming up- good we need him. Yae Homer! Yae Cheli!


Wasn’t until Zetts scored his pretty little empty netter in the end of 3rd that I was like- OHhhhhh I like this kid!


I mean it was 1 minute left in the third, we were up 3-2, they pulled their goalie and the kid didn’t quit, kept driving, shooting and scoring.


For the 2007-2008 season, my brother and I tried to pull what we call our “California Hat Trick”: travel to each of the three Cali arenas (Kings, Sharks, Ducks) to see the Wings win,


er, um, play.


We made it to Staples twice and despite the elation of watching the Wings kick the Ducks back to Disneyland, it was a weird wild and crazy experience at the Honda Center. Another story for another time.


Didn’t get to San Jose, sigh. Maybe next year.


This year, for all three of these live games my attention was always drawn to the wonder twins. Quite simply, you could not help but be mesmerized by the emerging dominance of Zetts and Dats. I love that sort of evolution, watching a kid grow in his career like that.


You could see the pay off for such a commitment to winning and excellence. Huge! And I am not talking just about trophies.


Watching the kid these last three years I realized that the awards bestowed upon our young Henrik in ‘08 really aren’t merely the product of playoff praise. Nor was his dominant and amazing style of play just a playoff fluke. Rather, it’s a culmination of growth over his total career, and as far as that goes, one thing is abundantly clear- Zetter is just going to keep getting better and better.


Sorry I don’t know why I had to end that with a rhyme, it is a sickness.


Congrats Z! we love ya!