yave1964 Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 https://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2018/09/red_wings_henrik_zetterberg_ha_5.html Hank has hung up his skates the day before camp opens. Henrik Zetterberg has decided it is time, his wonky back will not allow him to continue his career in the NHL. By placing him on ltir it frees up a bit over six million a year for the next three years of his contract. I am sad to see him go, unlike when Pavel left to go play in Mother Russia I feel no animus towards Hank, he gave it all he could for as long as he could and multiple doctors have stated his degenerative discs will get worse by continuing to play. Quality of life is the most important thing at this point. This is a HUGE opportunity for the Wings however with six million in cap space falling in our laps moving forward and with Nyquist Kronwall and Howard UFA at seasons end and their 14 million in cap space clearing the books they could be a completely differnet core by next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 You mean he didn't want to play three years for $5.5M (total)? I'm shocked. His "back" must really be acting up. Kinda surprised he didn't develop some sort of skin rash when he put a jersey on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted September 15, 2018 Share Posted September 15, 2018 This sucks for hockey...Obviously I am not a wings fan, but watching that guy play has been a joy. Health is important after all, and it sucks to see him retire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted September 15, 2018 Author Share Posted September 15, 2018 2 hours ago, radoran said: You mean he didn't want to play three years for $5.5M (total)? I'm shocked. His "back" must really be acting up. Kinda surprised he didn't develop some sort of skin rash when he put a jersey on... Kinda shared your thought. Thank God these kind of deals are finally running their course. at least until the next CBA. It takes on a funny odor especially when one considers he played every game last year with the same wonky back, now I watched close to every game and he was clearly laboring but he was out there every night. Then, throw in that he was spotted all summer long golfing with Karlsson, Hedman and others in Sweden and then in Scotland. I truly believe his back is shot. He was a warrior and I have no doubt that his body was giving out on him. But if his contract had not been front loaded, if he were playing for 6.25 million a year for the final three years of his deal I truly in my heart of hearts believe that he would be out there giving it his best every night. That said, I believe that if he felt his best was still up to the excellence that he has demanded of himself that he likely would still be out there as well and his health is theprimary reason that his best is no longer up to his standards. Still, LTIR like these stink. A lot. No argument from me there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooMuchBeard Posted September 17, 2018 Share Posted September 17, 2018 Sad day. Was a good player, and a good leader. Unfortunate, but it happens to guys at this age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haliax Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 On 9/14/2018 at 7:08 PM, radoran said: You mean he didn't want to play three years for $5.5M (total)? I'm shocked. His "back" must really be acting up. Kinda surprised he didn't develop some sort of skin rash when he put a jersey on... I'm pretty tired of people focusing on the contract situation and not the player. I do believe that if Zetterberg was healthy enough to play, he would. He loves the game and he loves this team. From reports during the season already, Zetterberg wasn't practicing due to complications with his back. He has struggled with back issues for years, and it came to the point where, if I understand the situation correctly, it was recommended to him by doctors that he needs to quit playing or he risks his long term health. This isn't something that just popped up without any kind of history. I also don't consider this a boon for the Red Wings in any way. They can't put the cap space to effective use anyways, and Zetterberg was still a very effective player. They already had expiring contracts for next season that would make it easier for them to sign or trade for who they want anyways. This is just a sad situation where the game and this team is losing an incredible player and warrior. I wish him well going forward, and hope he can make a full recovery and live a healthy life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted September 18, 2018 Author Share Posted September 18, 2018 @Haliax Smoke. Fire. Those damn front loaded deals with aging veterans from Z to Hossa where they get most of their money up front and then retire early claiming injury stink. a lot. I love Zetterberg, an incredible warrior, absolutely no ifs and or buts, a HOFer IMHO who will certainly be missed, we are a worse team without him He has played every single game for the past three years and only missed 5 games total over the past four. YES he has back issues but he played through them for years, I love Z but stick to the statement that if his 6.25 million per was still being paid for each of the next three seasons he almost certainly would be out there giving it the old college try. I view this in the same way that I see Hossa going on long term IR for the Hawks because his uni was to itchy. @radoran brought up Hossa when this went down because I have been hyper critical of the Hawks circumventing the rules and would be a hypocrite if Zetterberg retiring after playing every game for three years running without fail didn't force me to feel the same way. As for the cap situation, meh, this year we could still make a run at Faulk or someone like that now, it opens up some doors albeit late in the offseason, too late to likely do much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haliax Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 Smoke and fire? There was none for the Hossa situation, there is plenty for Zetterbergs injury. There is absolutely no reason to dismiss the fact that he did not practice with the team for the entire second half of last season as irrelevant just because he played a full season. He used the off season to see if relaxing without working out would help his condition and it did not. Doctors told him he was risking his day to day life by continuing to play. Seems cut and dry to me. You're welcome to your opinion, but I'll never agree with it. So I don't see any reason to continue this discussion. It's a disservice to Zetterberg and the career he had with this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 10 hours ago, Haliax said: I'm pretty tired of people focusing on the contract situation and not the player. I do believe that if Zetterberg was healthy enough to play, he would. He loves the game and he loves this team. From reports during the season already, Zetterberg wasn't practicing due to complications with his back. He has struggled with back issues for years, and it came to the point where, if I understand the situation correctly, it was recommended to him by doctors that he needs to quit playing or he risks his long term health. This isn't something that just popped up without any kind of history. I also don't consider this a boon for the Red Wings in any way. They can't put the cap space to effective use anyways, and Zetterberg was still a very effective player. They already had expiring contracts for next season that would make it easier for them to sign or trade for who they want anyways. This is just a sad situation where the game and this team is losing an incredible player and warrior. I wish him well going forward, and hope he can make a full recovery and live a healthy life. I like Zetterberg a lot. Great player. Great story. But we lost a season and a half of hockey to get this cap and watching both sides dance around the obvious circumvention is ridiculous. The contract was designed for him to leave at this point and that's what he did. To pretend otherwise is IMHO deliberately ignoring the obvious. And, for the record, I laughed at Hossa's "problem" at the time and referenced it again here. Is it a coincidence he had an incurable skin reaction the very year his salary dropped to $1M? Of course not. I wish Zetterberg all the best in the rest of his life. But let's not pretend this didn't end the way it was designed to end when the contract was signed. It might have been a year early - I'm far too familiar with a tetchy back - but he was never playing out the deal to the end the way it was constructed (see: Pronger, Chris). And now Detroit eats a $6M IR cap problem for three years - as the team capfriendly has as the top salary team in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooMuchBeard Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 @Haliax @yave1964 I think you are selling these guys a little short. Sure, they made the money in the contracts, but I would bet money that Hossa and Zetterberg would keep playing if their bodies let them. At some point, you body breaks down and you can’t do the things you use to be able to do. Both are character guys. They would play through their entire contracts if they could. They aren’t Kovalchuk, etc. who only signed for the money and then left when they didn’t like what was going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 3 hours ago, TooMuchBeard said: @Haliax @yave1964 I think you are selling these guys a little short. Sure, they made the money in the contracts, but I would bet money that Hossa and Zetterberg would keep playing if their bodies let them. At some point, you body breaks down and you can’t do the things you use to be able to do. Both are character guys. They would play through their entire contracts if they could. They aren’t Kovalchuk, etc. who only signed for the money and then left when they didn’t like what was going on. I hear what you are saying, but virtually everyone agrees that if he was slated to make $18.5M over the next three years - and wouldn't get it without it - he'd be on the ice. As it is, he collects $5.5M as a bonus prize over the next three years. There's a damn good reason they outlawed these types of contracts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted September 20, 2018 Author Share Posted September 20, 2018 @TooMuchBeard First love the name, lol. I am a Wings fan to the nth degree but I would like to think I am an objective fan of the game as well and quite frankly as @radoran and I have both stated, if Z and Hossa had not had their deals front loaded, if they were playing for 6 or 7 million a year for each of the final three years of their deals I have no doubt that Zetterberg would work within the parameters that his back allowed and Hossa would use downy fabric softener to ease the itchy sweaters. Both would still be on the ice. I love Z, I am looking forward to hearing his induction speech some day, I hold no animus as I did when Datsyuk quit on the team to go play in mother Russia, I just hate this kind of contract that allowed team/players to circumvent the rules and I am glad they have finally run their course at least until the next CBA and some other ridiculousness takes their place. I am a Wings fan but objective enough to say that these kind of deals stunk to high heaven and the league is better off with them hopefully gone forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeDDS Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 @yave1964 @radoran @TooMuchBeard @Haliax Late to the discussion, but... Yes, when this contract was inked, it was an unspoken acknowledgement that toward the end, he could/would retire. Let’s also be objective and say that players who would be paid a ton of money are more motivated to play out their contracts if they would not receive the $ otherwaise. That’s just true, and anyone who says otherwise isn’t being honest. All that said, the evidence shows that Zetterberg did not practice AT ALL for the entire second half of last season. Knowing who he is—his track record of work ethic over 15 years—we know that that was not because he was being lazy. He couldn’t do it. And as much as you may want to equivocate playing golf in the summer with practicing or working out or playing hockey, my only response is, “Really?” TOTALLY not the same thing. Despite the decrease in financial remuneration, remember that Z is following behind Iohan Franzen, who is demonstrating what debilitating jnjury does to someone once their career is over. Z cannot ignore that. And when ALL of the doctors say, “There is nothing more that we can do,” that is VERY significant. No, this is legitimate injury ending a career. That doesn’t mean the other things don’t weigh at all, but that last fact and Z demonstrating unwavering work ethic and sacrifice of body through his whole career trump all the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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