By Paul M. Banks
Although the end was not pretty, it was quite a memorable season for the Chicago Blackhawks, who long surpassed expectations: reaching the Western Conference quarterfinals for the first time since 1995. As I predicted exactly on the Big Hair Hockey Show podcast, they lost to their bitter rivals the Detroit Red Wings in 5 games. One of the biggest reasons why is Wings alternate captain and left wing Henrik Zetterberg.
Last season Zetterberg was nominated for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward, but finished as a runner-up to teammate Pavel Datsyuk. This year the league’s reigning Conn Smythe Trophy (Stanley Cup playoffs MVP) had 3 goals, an assist, and a +2 in the series.
Hawks fans, just in case you don’t have sufficient reason to dislike him…his current contract is the longest and most lucrative in Detroit history and he’s also engaged to a Swedish model and tv host. Zetterberg spoke about overcoming the Hawks despite a couple slow starts “We’ve had some trouble during the playoffs starting off well. Every game we talk about it. They’re (Chicago) coming with a lot of speed. If you execute on the first pass, it’s a lot easier for you. You know we did that today.”
There are better days ahead for the Hawks, currently the league’s youngest team, but in this series it was Detroit’s veteran savvy and composure that led to victory. Zetterberg spoke about the Wings’ response to the Hawks’ running around and attempting to chip it up in the series’ only true blowout: the Wings’ 6-1 game four victory. “We just tried to play with poise. We knew they were coming. They didn’t basically have anything else to do, you know when the game kind of ran away there. Tried to play physical, and I think the ref did a good job, made the calls, and we took advantage on the power play,” Henrik stated.