Detroit Red Wings Captain Henrik Zetterberg is done playing professional hockey, the team announced on Friday morning.
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Ken Holland announced that after consulting with Doctors, Henrik Zetterberg is no longer healthy enough to play professional hockey.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 14, 2018
Zetterberg, 37, has been battling back injuries for the past few years. In August, Holland told reporters that Zetterberg is "a real unknown" for the season.
Later that month, Zetterberg told a Swedish media outlet that he was skipping training camp and wouldn't be ready for the regular season.
“I haven’t been able to train properly the whole summer, so I’ll miss training camp, and therefore also the start of the season,” Zetterberg said. “Then we’ll have to wait and see.”
Zetterberg's pain has kept him off the ice since last season ended.
“I’ve only been able to do rehab, not real training. As soon as I’ve pushed it, the symptoms have been too bad. I feel good in every-day situations, it’s just when I push hard in training that I’m in pain,” Zetterberg said. “But of course it’s sad and hard to not be able to work as I used to."
He has spent his entire career with the Red Wings, and has played the entire season for the past three years. In 1,082 games, he has 337 goals and 623 assists. He was named captain of the team in 2013 after Nicklas Lidstrom retired.
Zetterberg's contract lasts through the 2020-21 season, and the team will put him on long-term injured reserve like they did with Johan Franzen until his contract expires, according to The Athletic.
