Tag Archive for Nicklas Lidstrom

Nicklas Lidstrom Retires After 20 Seasons

June 3, 2012 NHL

One of the best defense-men to ever play the game, Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings has announced his retirement after 20 seasons in the NHL, all with the Wings. Lidstrom, who is now 42 years old has the NHL record for most games played with a single NHL team in 1,564 games. A career that saw him bring in 4 Stanley Cup Championships and 7 Norris Trophies for being the best defense-men in the NHL. Lidstrom was also a four-time Olympian and scored the game winning goal for his native country of Sweden to win the gold medal in 2006. He is also the first European-born captain to win the Stanley Cup in 2008, 2 years after being the first player from Europe to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP.

Lidstrom ended his career with a total of 264 goals and 1,142 points all together. When all is said and done, he will go down as one of the best Red Wings ever in the franchise’s history. When talking to Lidstrom during the retirement announcement he had these words to say, ”Retiring today allows me to walk away with pride, rather than have the game walk away from me.” Lidstrom is ready to return home to Sweden where his oldest son has went to attend school and play for the schools hockey team. Lidstrom’s wife was also at the interview and had told him, ”She even said, ‘If you want to play another year, we can make this work,” but after a long 20 year career it started to take a lot out of him, which ultimately lead to him ending an amazing career.

Lidstrom will most likely join former Red Wings to have their numbers retired, Steve Yzermans No. 19,  Gordie Howe’s No. 9, Ted Lindsay’s No. 7, Terry Sawchuck’s No. 1, Alex Delvecchio’s No. 10 and Sid Abel’s No. 12 sometime next season or sometime down the road. General Manager Ken Holland also had kind words for Lidstrom as he announced the retirement, ”I think he’s been the most valuable player of his era and will go down as one of the greatest Red Wings of all time,” And “I’ve been dreading this day since I became manager in 1997,” that says a lot about a player and when all is said and done Lidstrom will be in the NHL Hall Of Fame and his “Number 5″ will be in the rafters at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. We thank you for an amazing career Nick and for all the memories, even for fans outside of the Wings organization, we all enjoyed watching you throughout your career.

No comments , , ,

Early Thoughts On NHL Awards

February 21, 2012 NHL

Today I will be covering who I think will take home some of the big NHL awards in June. Up first we have the Calder Trophy which is handed out to the most to the most outstanding rookie of the year. This year I think will be tough with guys like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Henrique, Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Read likely up for the award. But to me overall I think the  winner will be 1st overall draft pick of this seasons draft Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, in just 40 games this year he has 35 points, 13 goals and 22 assists with a high amount of points on the power play with 18 points. He is out on an injury right now to his shoulder but should be back in the next few days and continue up his stellar play and ultimately take home the Calder Trophy when all is said and done.

Up next we have the Jack Adams award given to the coach of the year. I think there are a few candidates up for this award like John Tortorella of the New York Rangers, Ken Hitchcock of the St. Louis Blues, Alain Vigneault Of the Vancouver Canucks, Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings and Kevin Dineen of the Florida Panthers. All of these coaches have their teams on great runs this season with the Rangers, Wings and Canucks the top 3 teams in the NHL. Dineen and Hitchcock have both respectively turned their bottom feeder teams into playoff contenders, they are also in a lot of consideration for the award. John Tortorella is the man that stands out here to me, he turned the Rangers into just getting into the playoffs last season as the eighth seed, to the tops in the Eastern Conference and third in the NHL. If the Rangers can keep up their strong play and play that tough nose defense that Tortorella has taught them, he can very well take home the Jack Adams award this season.

Up next we have the Hart Trophy which is given out to the MVP of the league, somebody who means the most to their team and performs at a high level. This seasons likely candidates would be Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks. They all are turning in some special seasons this year all being in the top 5 in scoring. Malkin leads the NHL in points with 71 in just 52 games and is doing this without Sid “The Kid” Crosby. He has the Penguins in fifth in the Eastern Conference and they are making a strong push to catch up to the Devils and Rangers who are ahead of them. Giroux in just his 3rd full season in the NHL has turned in 68 points in just 54 games and continues to lead the Flyers. Stamkos is on pace to score over 50 goals this year but his team is on the outside looking in right now and need to go on a big run. Henrik Sedin teamed up with his brother Daniel has the Canucks up top the NHL once again. Overall I think this trophy will go to Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Up next we have the Norris Trophy for the NHL’s best defense men. Players who stand out for this trophy to me is Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings, Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators, Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators and Ryan Suter of the Nashville Predators. This award can go to any of these 4 and would not be disappointed, Karlsson is turning in a great season leading all defense men in points with 57 in 60 games while also being a +14. Weber and Suter being paired together in Nashville just happen to be in my opinion the best defensive pairing in all of the NHL. Suter sits with 35 points and a +10 while Weber is turning in a 38 point season while being a +17 on the ice. And finally Nicklas Lidstrom, last years Norris Trophy winner, he has 31 points and sitting with a rating of +26 on the ice, knowing the leadership he provides Lidstrom can very well be the winner again, but if the Senators hang onto a playoff spot I think this one will go to Erik Karlsson for the first time in his career.

The last award I will discuss is the Vezina Trophy, given to the leagues top goaltender. Up for this award can be goalies Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings, Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues and Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings.  All four of them are pitching in great seasons for their teams, Howard is 32-11-1 with .924 save percentage and 2.03 goals against average. Lundqvist is having one of his best seasons of his career for the Rangers with a record right now of 28-11-4 with a .940 save percentage and 1.77 goals against average which is second best in the NHL to only Brian Elliott. Elliott of the Blues who started as the back up took over as the main guy when Jaroslav Halak started to slip off, Elliott is 20-6-2 with .940 save percentage and 1.56 goals against average. Quick of the Kings is 24-16-10 with a .934 save percentage and 1.87 goals against average, but don’t let his stats and record fool you. Quick has been one of the best young goalies in the NHL who just does not get the same support as the other candidates and he is just as good, but overall I think this record will go to “King Henrik” of the New York Rangers.

One comment , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Red Wings Stay Hot At Home

February 13, 2012 NHL

Last night after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers, the Detroit Red Wings tied a record of most consecutive wins at home with 20 straight.  Ironically, the Red Wings tied the Flyers in the 1970′s and the Boston Bruins in the 1930′s for their 20th straight win at home.  Their next game comes Tuesday at home to face the Dallas Stars with the chance to break the record and ultimately own it all to themselves.  The last time the Detroit Red Wings lost at Joe Louis Arena was all the way back in November on the 3rd when they lost to the Calgary Flames 4-1.

With their next 3 games being home against the Stars, Predators and Sharks, who they have sometimes struggled against this season we can very well just see the record remained tied or continued on. The Sharks really seem to have the Wings number this year going 2-0 against them and outscoring the Wings 9-4 so far. The Sharks are a very tough game and though it is the 3rd game coming up, I’m sure the Sharks would love to spoil the Wings fun and potentially ruin the win streak.

During this 20 game win streak the Wings have outscored opponents at home 84-30 which is a tremendous amount of goal differential. Two other milestones were reached during this 20 game home win streak, Captain Nicklas Lidstrom became the NHL’s league leader for games played with a single franchise at 1,550, which he accomplished last night in the win over the Flyers. One other milestone was by Left Winger Tomas Holmstrom who just played his 1,000th career game on Febrauary 10th against the Ducks. Holmstrom has also spent his entire 15 year career with the Wings.

[polldaddy poll=5940127]

One comment , , , , , ,