Red Wings begin to prepare for life without Zetterberg

TRAVERSE CITY -- It will probably take a while for it to sink in for the Red Wings that their captain is not going to be on the ice with them anymore.
As recently as a week ago, the players were holding out hope that Henrik Zetterberg would talk to the doctors and they could find a solution to help his ailing back.

Now they know that will not happen after finding out on the first day of training camp in Traverse City that Zetterberg's back has a degenerative condition that cannot be fixed.
"It's going to be weird, to be honest with you," said Niklas Kronwall, Zetterberg's longtime teammate. "It's going to be tough to wrap your head around it. Sure, we found out the news now, but knowing the reality, and seeing how he works every day, without him in the locker room it's going to be weird. He's been there all these years, ever since I got here. He's always been the backbone of the team and now you're losing a guy like that.
"It's going to be different, no doubt, but again, it's going to be an opportunity for someone else."

Dylan Larkin is only 22 but he realizes how fortunate he was to be able to play his first three seasons with Zetterberg, including playing on Zetterberg's line his rookie season.
"Probably a credit to why I'm here today, the player I am," Larkin said. "Playing with him my first year on a line and spent a lot of time with him, learned a lot from him every day, just watching him, the good times and the bad. Every day there was a new lesson I learned from him, which I thank him. Without him, it's going to be a lot different. He's our leader, he's our captain.
"It's a tough day for us as a group but we have to move on. We still have high hopes, high expectations for this season as a team. We have a great core of veteran players, a solid core of young players that are looking to be leaders and looking for more opportunities. We're going to have to find ways to move on and chip in to contribute what he contributed to the team, which was a lot."

Thomas Vanek played for the Wings for the first part of the 2016-17 and was hoping to play with Zetterberg again in his second stint with the team.
"First of all, he's a great person. Off the ice, that's what sticks out for me more so than anything," Vanek said. "I had the pleasure of playing with the Sedins last year and it was nice to see them get a nice send-off. That's the only unfortunate part that Z might not get, which for the career he's had, he deserves that."
The Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, were taken in the first round, second and third overall, in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, the same draft in which Zetterberg went in the seventh round, 210th overall.
The Sedins are the only two players from that draft with more games, 1,306 and 1,330 for Daniel and Henrik, respectively, and more points, 1,041 and 1,070, than Zetterberg's 960 points in 1,082 games.
"He's not the fastest but his hockey IQ is off the charts," Vanek said. "His last two years to me, he was still one of the best players, the way he protects the puck, the way he makes his linemates better. That to me is signs of a very good hockey player if you can make players around you better. Z did that a lot with many, many, many guys next to him."
Kronwall, who was drafted the year after Zetterberg and has played with him his entire career, including on Team Sweden in international play, knows what he will remember most about Zetterberg.
"I think everything that comes down to Hank, he was always best when needed to," Kronwall said. "Regardless of the state of the game, if you needed a goal or needed to shut it down, he was on the ice. He made it happen. That's what stands out amongst the great players. Stevie (Yzerman) was the same way and Nick (Lidstrom) was the same way. Whenever it matters, they were always on top of the game. I think that's something that he will always be remembered for."
Larkin not only has memories of Zetterberg as a teammate but as a top player when he was growing up in Waterford, watching the Wings as a fan.
Larkin was 11 when the Wings won the Stanley Cup in 2008 and Zetterberg was the Conn Smythe winner.
"My first goal when he assisted, that was something that I'll never forget," Larkin said. "I think him winning the Conn Smythe, as a fan that was my favorite, seeing how he humbly accepted it and you could clearly tell he was more excited to win the Cup and raise that. There's a lot. But as a player, just watching him every day has been something that's been the most impactful in my career."
Wings coach Jeff Blashill knew that things were not good when Zetterberg came to him in January and said he was not going to be able to practice if he still wanted to play the games.
Still, it was jarring to hear that Zetterberg would no longer be able to play.
"Henrik has been a great player for us, a great leader," Blashill said. "Last year I thought there were a lot of nights he was still one of our best players. Certainly, an outstanding leader on a day to day basis. His example in practice, he's one of the best warriors I've been around. Obviously, there's potential to feel that loss. How much you feel it totally 100 percent depends on how ready other guys are to fill those roles, how ready are guys to step into those roles, both on the ice and from a leadership standpoint."
Blashill has already talked about Andreas Athanasiou returning to center, joining Larkin, Frans Nielsen and Luke Glendening.
For now, the plan is to keep Darren Helm and Michael Rasmussen on the wing. But Blashill made it clear that the onus isn't just on the team's centers.
"For a chance for us to have success this year a bunch of guys need to take the next step," Blashill said. "Can Larks take the next step? Can (Anthony) Mantha? (Athanasiou)? (Tyler) Bertuzzi is a full-time player now, can he take the next step? Can some of the young players you saw in the prospects tournament step in and help our team be a better hockey team? Beyond that, can guys keep pushing their careers to the next level?"
Both general manager Ken Holland and Blashill said they would wait to decide whether the team needs to appoint a new captain or whether they will go with three alternate captains.
For his part, Larkin said he's ready to assume more of a leadership role as he enters his fourth season.
"I don't think you need to wear a letter to be a leader and I tried last year to take a step forward in my third season," Larkin said. "I thought it was time to be a leader, be an impact player on this team. I have the same mentality for this year. Is wearing a letter everything? No. It's doing the right things, it's contributing to the team and it's winning games. That's why we're all here, that's why we want to be a playoff team at the end of this year. We're going to need solid leadership and I want to provide that."
Blashill said he doesn't know yet which players are ready to step into bigger roles now that Zetterberg is gone.
"We'll prove that answer on a day to day basis here," Blashill said. "I think we got a bunch of guys who are in a spot where I feel they are ready to fill those roles, but what I believe doesn't matter. What we go out and prove is what matters."