Nicklas Lidstrom
Detroit Red Wings Defenseman 1989-2012
#5 – LD
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 192
Shoots: Left
Born April 28th, 1970 (Age 42)
Birthplace: Vasteras, Sweden
Drafted: Detroit Red Wings, 1989 Entry Draft, Round 3 (53rd Overall)
Regular season Statistics: Playoff Game Statistics:
Games Played: 1,564 263
Goals: 264 54
Assists: 878 129
Points: 1,142 183
Plus/Minus: 450 61
Penalty Minutes: 514 76
Powerplay Goals: 132 30
Shorthanded Goals: 10 3
Game Winning Goals: 35 11
Hockey Awards:
Stanley Cup Wins: 1997, 1998, 2002, 2008 (4 times)
Norris Trophy wins: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 (7 times)
World Championship gold medal win: 1991
NHL All-Star Selected: 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 (12 times)
NHL First All-Star Team: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 (10 times)
NHL Second All-Star Team: 2009, 2010 (2 times)
NHL All Rookie Team: 1992
Conn Smythe Trophy wins: 2002
Olympic Gold Medal Wins: 2006
Olympic All-Star team: 2006
NHL Records:
First European-born and trained Norris Trophy winner: 2000-01
Firs European-born and trained Conn Smythe Trophy winner: 2001-02
Fourth defenseman (First European) in NHL to win James Norris Trophy three years running. Third seven-time winner.
First European-born and trained captain of a Stanley Cup winning team: 2008
Most regular season games played by a player born in Europe, any position: 1564
Most regular season games played in a career spent with only one team: 1564
Most regular season wins played in: 900
Oldest player ever to record his first hat-trick: 40 years old
Oldest Norris Trophy winner: 41 years, 57 days (2010-11)
Appeared in 30 Stanley Cup Final games.
Detroit Red Wings Records:
Points by a defenseman, season: 80 (2005-2006)
Postseason goals by a defenseman, career: 54
Postseason points by a defenseman, career: 183
Postseason games played, career: 258
Games played by a defenseman, career: 1564
Goals, assists, and points by a defenseman, career: 264, 878, and 1142
Best postseason plus/minus, career: +61
Best regular season plus/minus, career: +450
Lidstrom has missed 40 games out of a possible 1604. Only one game missed because of a suspension.
World-Wide Acclaim:
One of only 17 players in the entire world to be in the Triple Gold Club.
The Hockey News selected Lidstrom as the Best European trained player ever in the NHL.
The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated selected Lidstrom as the NHL Player of the Decade (2000-2009)
Nicklas Lidstrom was never the flashy player. He was never the toughest. He will never be the greatest, and even he will say that.
That, is what made him the best player in the NHL for almost 20 years. He was humble, above all else. You will not find one player who will speak ill of Lidstrom in any capacity.
He prided himself on making everything look easy. His greatest strength was his ability to outthink the opposition every shift, he defined what “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky once said: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” And “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”
Nicklas Lidstrom was a great hockey player. Arguably, the greatest defenseman to ever play the game, had the league not locked out in 2004, he could have tied Doug Harvey for four Norris wins in a row.
In 2011, that would have tied him with Bobby Orr for eight all time.
Bobby Orr changed the way defense was played. Dennis Potvin refined it.
Nicklas Lidstrom did what he does best, he perfected it.
You can list his statistics, you can recite them. Every year, you would hear fans, even commentators, say how soft and European this team was. How players were not tough enough. No one ever dared mention Nick Lidstrom.
He was never one to criticize. He never spoke an ill word in the locker room. He knew every media member by name. He concerned himself with their family affairs.
He was more than a hockey player. He was iconic, and he will be missed on the ice, every shift.
You can’t really put into words how much he meant not only to this hockey team, this organization, but the entire city of Detroit. He took time out of his own life, for charity, for youth hockey. He gave back to the community every chance he had.
“The Perfect Human”. That was his nickname in the locker room. Not the Perfect Defenseman. Or the Perfect Hockey Player.
The Perfect Human.
Nick Lidstrom: NHL 36 (Part 1)
Nick Lidstrom: NHL 36 (Part 2)
Nick Lidstrom: Goals from 97/98/02/08 Playoffs
Nick Lidstrom Goals: The Final Year (2011-2012)
Nick Lidstrom’s First 2 NHL Points: 10/5/1991
Nick Lidstrom’s First Career Hat-Trick (12/15/2010)
Nick Lidstrom Incredible Swat Goal
Nick Lidstrom speaks of Home
Nick Lidstrom imitates Datsyuk
Nick Lidstrom teaches basics
Patrick Kane on playing with Lidstrom
Norris #7
Lidstrom family meets the press
Lidstrom imitates Holmstrom
Red Wings poke fun at their Captain
The Score looks at Nick Lidstrom
Lidstrom accepts his fourth Stanley Cup, his first as Captain
Nicklas Lidstrom’s Final NHL Shift
Remembering the Captain