Nicklas Lidström
Erik Nicklas Lidström is a Swedish former professional ice hockey defenceman and current vice president of hockey operations for the Detroit Red Wings. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings from 1991 to 2012, where he played in six Stanley Cup Finals, winning four championships, and captained the team for the final six seasons of his career. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defencemen in NHL history and nicknamed "the Perfect Human."
Over his 20 NHL seasons, Lidström won four Stanley Cup championships, seven James Norris Memorial Trophies, one Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs most valuable player, and was voted into 12 NHL All-Star Games. The Red Wings never missed the playoffs during his career, the longest streak of playoff appearances for a player in league history. Lidström was the first European-born-and-trained captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team. Lidström is also the all-time leader in games played with a single NHL team by a European-born player.
Lidström was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2014. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on 9 November 2015. In 2017, Lidström was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.
Playing career
Widely considered one of the greatest defencemen of all time, Lidström was awarded the Norris Trophy seven times, a feat matched by only one other player and exceeded only by Bobby Orr. Lidström was nominated for the award a total of 12 times in his last 14 seasons in the NHL, the first three times finishing as the runner-up, and won it in seven of his last ten. In his final 16 seasons, he finished no lower than sixth place in Norris Trophy voting.Lidström played his entire 20-year NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings, finishing his career with the second-most Stanley Cup playoff games played in NHL history, with 263 appearances. He was a member of four Stanley Cup-winning teams, in 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02 and 2007–08. Save for the cancelled 2004–05 season lockout year, Lidström played in the playoffs for an NHL record 20 consecutive seasons.
Known for his durability, Lidström consistently ranked amongst the top in the NHL in ice time per game. He averaged 28:07 minutes in the 2005–06 season, a career-high. He won three consecutive Norris Trophies from 2001 to 2003 to become the first defenceman since Bobby Orr to win three straight. In the 2003–04 season, he played in the 1,000th game of his career, having missed only 17 games in seasons.
In the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, Lidström was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player during the playoffs, becoming the first European to ever be awarded the trophy.
Early career
Lidström began his career in Avesta, Sweden, playing with Skogsbo SK, before moving on to play with VIK Västerås HK of the Swedish Elitserien. In three seasons with the team, he played in 103 games, scoring 12 goals and 30 assists.NHL career (1991–2012)
Drafted by the Detroit Red Wings 53rd overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, Lidström joined the team in the 1991–92 season, though he returned to play for Västerås IK for a brief period during the 1994–95 NHL lockout. Lidström scored 60 points in his rookie season, finishing second to Pavel Bure in voting for that year's Calder Trophy. He was selected to the 1992 NHL All-Rookie Team, along with fellow Red Wings defenceman Vladimir Konstantinov.Lidström was set to make $10 million during the 2005–06 season. However, due to the new terms of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement that was implemented during the 2004–05 season, salaries on pre-existing contracts were reduced by 24%, which lowered his compensation to $7.6 million. That season, he posted a career-high 64 assists and 16 goals to for 80 points.
On 30 June 2006, it was announced that Lidström had signed a two-year, $15.2 million contract extension with the Red Wings. Instead of seeking more money elsewhere for a defenceman of his caliber, Lidström decided to remain with Detroit for the same annual salary as he earned during the 2005–06 season.
Lidström had been an alternate captain of the Red Wings since the 1997–98 season, and was named captain after the retirement of long-time Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman after Detroit was eliminated in the first round, despite winning the President's Trophy for the season, by the eventual Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers in six games. It was an honor made more special by the fact that he became the first European captain in franchise history. In his first year of captaincy, Lidström led the Red Wings to the Western Conference Finals, but lost to eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Anaheim Ducks, in six games. In the off-season, Lidström joined an elite group by capturing the Norris Trophy as the NHL's outstanding defenceman for the fifth time. Lidström became the fourth defenceman in NHL history with as many as five Norris Trophy wins, joining Hockey Hall of Famers Bobby Orr, Doug Harvey and Ray Bourque.
Near the beginning of the 2007–08 season, in an 8 October win against the Edmonton Oilers, Lidström registered two assists to surpass Peter Forsberg as the second-highest scoring Swedish-born NHL player of all time. Accordingly, he trails only Mats Sundin. Later in the season, on 26 December, Lidström signed a contract extension through the 2009–10 season. Several months later, on 3 April 2008, he assisted on a goal by Johan Franzén to tie Luc Robitaille at 42nd in the all-time NHL assists, with 726.
Entering the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners for the highest team point total again during the regular season, the Red Wings met the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals. Despite a Game 5, triple-overtime victory by the Penguins to stave off elimination and prevent a Stanley Cup win on home ice by tying the game with less than a minute left, Lidström and the Red Wings defeated Pittsburgh in Game 6 to capture the Stanley Cup. In doing so, Lidström became the first European-born-and-trained captain to win the Stanley Cup, and along with teammates Tomas Holmstrom, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, and Darren McCarty, to win all four of the Stanley Cup championships the franchise achieved between 1997 and 2008. In 1934, Charlie Gardiner, a goaltender born in Scotland, had captained the Chicago Black Hawks to win the Stanley Cup and in 1938, Johnny Gottselig, a left-winger born in Russia, also captained Chicago to a championship, but both players were trained in Canada.
Just over one week after winning his fourth Stanley Cup in 11 seasons, on 12 June, Lidström won the Norris Trophy for the third-straight season and the sixth time in seven seasons.
As the Red Wings opened the 2008–09 pre-season against the Montreal Canadiens, Lidström suffered a broken nose as a shot from Canadiens forward Chris Higgins ricocheted and hit him in the face. From then on, he began wearing a visor. He returned in time for the regular season and was selected to the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal. However, in the midst of dealing with tendinitis that had been bothering him all season, Lidström chose to sit out All-Star weekend, along with teammate Pavel Datsyuk. Consequently, Lidström and Datsyuk were both suspended one game by the NHL due to League policy for missing the All-Star Game without significant injury. On 22 May, in Game 3 of the third round of the 2009 playoffs against the Chicago Blackhawks, Lidström suffered a testicle injury as a result of getting speared in the groin area by Blackhawks' winger Patrick Sharp, requiring surgery to remove the damaged testicle. He would miss the last two games of the series, which the Red Wings would win in five games for a second consecutive appearance, as the defending champions, in the Stanley Cup Final, which was a rematch of the previous year's final against the Penguins. Lidström was able to return in time for the series which was his second consecutive and second consecutive overall, and sixth appearance altogether, in a Cup Final. However, unlike the previous year, the Red Wings would lose the series in seven games, despite having a 3–2 series lead, which meant two chances to win, the first in Pittsburgh again like in the previous year's Game 6, and Game 7 in Detroit, which prevented him from a second consecutive Stanley Cup for the second time in his career and fifth Stanley Cup altogether. Lidström was unable to tie Game 7 and sent it into overtime despite having the puck with an open net with seconds left after Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury leapt just in time to block the shot.
The Red Wings opened the 2009–10 season in Stockholm, Sweden. During the team's trip in Sweden, Lidström was honored by his home county, Dalarna, as an Ambassador of Honor. On 15 October 2009, in a game against the Los Angeles Kings, Lidström became the first European-born defenceman to reach 1,000 points after recording two assists in the game. He is the fourth player to score 1,000 points as a Red Wing, and the eighth defenceman to do so in the history of the NHL. On 5 March 2010, Lidström earned his 800th career assist. Also during the 2009–10 season, Lidström played in his 1,395th game, setting an all-time record for NHL games played by a player born in Europe; earlier in the season, Lidström had passed Teppo Numminen for games played by a player trained in Europe. Lidström is also second all-time in games played in a Red Wing uniform, behind only Howe. Despite the team under performing due to key injuries to key players, especially at the beginning of the season, the team was still able to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. On 23 April, Lidström played in his 237th career playoff game, moving past Mark Messier into sole possession of third place on the NHL's all-time list, behind goaltender; Patrick Roy with 247, and former teammate Chris Chelios in first with 266. In the same game, he had an assist to tie Al MacInnis for the third-most assists in the post-season by a defenceman. On 27 April, a day before his 40th birthday, Lidström had three points in a Game 7 win over the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round of the 2010 playoffs, pushing his active playoff points lead to 171 points, and tying him for 17th on the all-time playoff points list with fellow countryman Peter Forsberg. After defeating the Coyotes in game seven to take the series in seven games, the Red Wings would go on to lose in the second round in five games against the San Jose Sharks.
As of the end of the 2009–10 season, Lidström has missed only 28 of a possible 1,440 regular-season team games.
After contemplating retirement, Lidström agreed on a one-year contract with the Red Wings on 1 June 2010; the contract paid him slightly over $6 million. On 15 December 2010, Lidström recorded his first career hat-trick, at 40 years of age, against the St. Louis Blues, sealing a 5–2 Detroit victory. After the game, he was asked how it feels to score his first hat-trick, responding, "It feels great, I've never in my life been able to notch three goals in a game." The hat-trick made him the oldest player in NHL history to record his first hat-trick, and the oldest defenceman in NHL history to record a hat-trick. On 18 January 2011, Lidström was named a team captain in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game in Raleigh, North Carolina. His team won by a final score of 11–10 over Team Staal, captained by Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes. Lidström finished +7 with one assist.
On 20 June 2011, after briefly contemplating retirement yet again, Lidström signed a one-year contract after being happy with his proformance during the previous season given his age at the time, worth $6.2 million with Detroit, the same amount he had been paid the previous season. On 23 June 2011, he won his seventh Norris Trophy, tying with Doug Harvey and remaining one behind Bobby Orr for most Norris Trophies. This was only the third time in history that a player with a negative plus/minus rating managed to win a Norris Trophy.
On 22 October 2011, in a game against the Washington Capitals, Lidström became the 14th player in the history of the NHL to play 1,500 games. He is the first player not being born in North America, and therefore the first Swedish and European player, as well as the first player to accomplish this in his 20th NHL season. Lidström played in his 1,550th game on 12 February 2012, against the Philadelphia Flyers, surpassing Alex Delvecchio's previous Red Wing record of 1,549 games. This also makes him the NHL player who has played the most games while always playing for the same NHL team. In this regard, Lidström joins former Red Wings Alex Delvecchio and former teammate and captain Steve Yzerman as the only three players with over 1,500 games having played exclusively for just one team throughout their careers.