Zetterlund, Boqvist Told It's Time To Find a Place to Live | FEATURE

Fabian Zetterlund had just come off the ice in Ottawa when Lindy Ruff asked to speak with him. Zetterlund had just assisted on Erik Haula's first goal of the season, his fifth assist of the year, and his second in as many games.
In the hallway outside the locker room, the Devils head coach pulled Zetterlund aside and told him what every player scratching and clawing to make their way into a lineup wants to hear.
"It's time to get a place."
"It's hard sometimes, but at the end, you've just got to focus on what you can do," Zetterlund said, "But when I finally heard it from (Ruff), I was really pumped."
There was no guarantee that Zetterlund would make the Devils opening night roster when training camp opened this year, he had had a taste of the league late last season and looked like he was finally ready to make the jump. But a spot in the lineup can be a fickle thing.
One minute you're in, the next you could be out.
"I got a good touch last year at the end of the season, up here," Zetterlund began, "I knew I can play up on this level. And I just want to keep getting better and better so that's my goal."
The addition of off-season veteran forwards meant even less space for a rookie (Zetterlund is still considered a rookie by NHL standards) to grab onto a spot in the lineup. There were, if any, so few spots available with Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula joining the forward group, not to mention the return of a healthy Miles Wood.But Zetterlund bided his time. He brought it every day at practice, one of the first players on, one of the last players off. He kept his head down, kept doing the extra work and the opportunity would eventually arise.

When Palat suffered his groin injury a roster spot opened, and it was Zetterlund who was given the available roster spot when the team played in Detroit on Oct. 25. He has played in every game since. It's an opportunity he has diligently worked for.
"He gave us some real good hockey last year," Ruff affirmed. "(He) had that in the bank, it was in the back of my memory, how well he played with Nico on the last five-game road trip, he played well. Sometimes a coach has a short memory, sometimes he has a long one."
"Finally, to get my own place, I can feel like home when I go home now," Zetterlund affirmed. Gone are the days when he is going from road hotel room back to another hotel room in New Jersey.

Back in Ottawa, Ruff asked Zetterlund to go get his friend Jesper Boqvist. The Devils head coach had a message for him.
He too was told: "It's time to get a place."
"I feel like I really earned it more this time," Boqvist beamed.
This is the second time he's lived in an apartment in New Jersey, but this felt different as he has become a constant in the lineup. It has been a long-time coming and to have that feeling of staying goes a long way.
"I feel like everything off the ice, does feel a little bit easier," Boqvist said of being able to settle into his own place with his girlfriend.

Boqvist was on the Devils opening night roster but didn't play again until Oct. 28 against the Avalanche. Another opportunity was seized. Since then, Boqvist has been a regular.
To be able to deliver the news never gets old for a coach. It's not always the head coach who shares the news, it varies in every situation, but it is still one of those moments that brings Ruff some joy, year after year.
"I really enjoy it, you know, it puts a smile on my face," he said.
But the biggest smile hearing upon hearing the news was not even from Zetterlund or Boqvist. As good friends do, there was some poking fun at the situation.
The one most excited might be Boqvist's girlfriend.
"Boqi's girlfriend, he drives her nuts sometimes," Zetterlund said with a grimace, "It's just like a room and then you have the bathroom."
But in all seriousness, having their lives settled and having their own space in New Jersey can only be looked at as a positive. It's a rewarding feeling to know you've earned it and worked hard for it, but it's also nice to have a place called home.
"To have your own home, it's something different," Zetterlund said, having found his apartment only a day or two after looking. "When I get back, sleeping in your own bed all the time, all that kind of stuff. I've already got a place and a bed. It feels good."