Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Should Henrik Zetterberg Hang Up His Skates?

08/16/2018 at 8:11am EDT

from Jamie Samuelsen at the Detroit Free Press,

If you were able to advise Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, what would you tell him?

I’m not in the business of telling people when they should retire.

First of all, it’s none of my business. Secondly, I’d never want someone to tell me when I should retire.

Henrik Zetterberg doesn’t seem to be seeking advice on what his next move should be. Or more to the point, he’s not listening to voices as much as he’s trying to listen to his body. And by all accounts, his body is telling him that his hockey career is over.

Zetterberg has been dealing with back issues ever since the Olympics in 2014. He missed stretches of seasons. He lost effectiveness on the ice at times. It got to the point last year where the only time he played hockey was in the games themselves, never in practice. The question is not whether Zetterberg can play in the NHL anymore. Of course he can. The question is whether or not he can play like Henrik Zetterberg again and it sure seems like he can’t.

Nicklas Lidstrom retired from the Red Wings in 2012. At the time, he was still the best defenseman on the roster and still one of the best in the NHL.

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Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that.

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