The Penguins lost and won a Stanley Cup Final against Henrik Zetterberg's Detroit Red Wings.
In 2009, Evgeni Malkin even took on the Swedish forward in a rare postseason fight, but there has always been a deep respect for Zetterberg and his game in Pittsburgh and throughout the NHL.
On Friday, Red Wings GM Ken Holland ended months of speculation, confirming that Zetterberg will be forced to retire at age 37 due to a deteriorating back injury.
"He wants to play, he can't," Holland told reporters in Detroit as the Red Wings opened a training camp without Zetterberg for the first time since 2002.
While Zetterberg was at the height of his career in Detroit, fellow Swede Carl Hagelin was playing college hockey 45 miles to the west in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan. When he wasn't in the stands at Joe Louis Arena, Haglelin says he was always watching Zetterberg on TV.
"The things he could do with the puck, without the puck, offensive zone, defensive zone, he's definitely a Hall of Famer," Hagelin told DKPittsburghSports.com at the start of Penguins training camp at the Lemieux Complex.
In more recent years, Hagelin got to know Zetterberg, even playing alongside him in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
"You could just see what a great person he is," Hagelin said. "He's a true captain, one of the best Swedes to play the game."
Zetterberg helped the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup championship in 2008 over the Penguins, scoring two goals and four assists en route to winning the Conn Smythe Trophy. In Detroit's Game 6 win at Mellon Arena, he scored what proved to be the game and series-winning goal:
In the 2009 rematch won by the Penguins, Zetterberg had two goals and four assists, but is best remembered for his battle with Malkin in the final seconds of Game 2:
Despite his back injury and not practicing since January, Detroit's captain still managed to play in all 82 games last season. He recorded 11 goals and 45 assists for 56 points to finish second on the Red Wings.
“It is emotional,” Zetterberg, a seventh-round pick in 1999, told the Detroit Free Press. “It’s been 15 years here and even though I knew that I was on my last couple years, I wish that I could play a little bit longer.”
He finishes with 337 goals and 960 points in 1,082 games. He also helped Sweden to Olympic gold in 2006 and is one of only 28 players -- including Sidney Crosby -- to win the Stanley Cup, Olympic and World Champion gold.
Holland said that Zetterberg will be placed on long-term injured reserve instead of retiring officially. This will allow Zetterberg to collect the remaining $5.35 million he was to be paid while giving the Red Wings nearly $6 million in salary-cap relief.
Though not as iconic as Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman or Nicklas Lidstrom, or as dazzling as Pavel Datsyuk, Zetterberg had been a fixture in Detroit. His retirement is yet another break from the past as the Red Wings look to rebuild after failing to reach the playoffs last year for the second straight season. Detroit had qualified for 25 straight seasons between 1990 and 2016, the third-longest run in NHL history.
“Detroit and the Red Wings have been such a big part of our life,” Zetterberg said. “We (he and his wife) have spent our grown-up life here and we have an American son. She knows what I’ve gone through and I think she’s happy I don’t have to do that."
