Shaved Ice – Jan. 16

Captain Zetterberg, ladies and gentlemen.

Yesterday was a special day for Hockeytown, as Henrik Zetterberg was officially announced as the successor to Nick Lidstrom as leader of the Red Wings (our photo gallery is here). Ken Holland said that he told Zetterberg the news over a round of golf during the summer, and acknowledged that it wasn’t the best-kept secret in sports.

Shortly after the announcement, the Wings held their ‘Red and White Game’ at Compuware Ice Arena, playing a scrimmage in front of a packed house. Fans had to be turned away from the parking lot at around 5 p.m. See our photos from the game right here.

Here is our photo gallery from Day 3 of practice, as well.

Our latest on the college hockey front is a feature from East Lansing on how the Spartans are preparing for Ferris State after a big weekend against Notre Dame.

We picked former Whaler and NTDP alum JT Miller to be our Michi-gamer today, find out why here.

Ken Holland said that the Winter Classic will come back to Hockeytown today. The Wings are also evaluating what adding Wade Redden could do to their line-up, per Helene St. James of the Freep.

Here’s the official announcement from yesterday, in case you haven’t seen the video.

Zetterberg wasn’t the only player to earn a new letter on his jersey yesterday – the Flyers announced that Claude Giroux is their new captain. Not a Flyers fan, but I do like Giroux’s playing style. He’s pretty good.

Travis Zajac signed the first big contract under the new CBA, inking an eight-year extension with the Devils.

Follow the 2013 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game with the NHL.com live blog – we’ll be keeping an eye on Whalers forward Ryan Hartman.

Todd Bertuzzi pulls his best Pavel Datsyuk.

See everybody tomorrow.