Red Wings take Game 6 on road for 11th overall Stanley Cup title

At first glance, there seemed to be so many candidates for the 2008 Conn Smythe Trophy that you wondered who would win.In the end, there really was only one choice.Henrik Zetterberg’s tremendous two-way play, not only in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a whole, but in the Final in particular, made him the winner of the Conn Smythe for Most Valuable Player honors.

Zetterberg scored the game-winning goal in Game 6 to clinch the Stanley Cup in the 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins and he also assisted on the opening goal of the game, a power-play tally by Brian Rafalski. But it was Zetterberg’s strong defensive play and penalty-killing expertise that really set his game apart.“It feels pretty good,” Zetterberg said in typical understated fashion. “It's been a long way. And it's been a long season, especially the last few nights.
(We) found a way to battle back. It’s just a great feeling right now.”

Zetterberg joined with defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall to kill off a pair of two-man disadvantages in the Final, helping pave the way to victory in the series. Those sometimes get lost in the shuffle in a long series, but Wings coach Mike Babcock was always front and center in extolling the virtues of his top players.“Him and Pavel and Nick and Rafi and Kronwall, they're all the same in a way,” Babcock said, ticking off the names of some prominent Wings. “Franzen as well. Maybe (Valtteri) Filppula. They're all our best offensive people and our best defensive people as well.