Nicklas Lidström
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Nicklas Erik Lidström (born April 28, 1970, in Västerås, Västmanlands län, Sweden) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenseman in the National Hockey League playing for the Detroit Red Wings.
Playing career
Lidstrom is considered one of the top defensemen in the NHL, having won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman three consecutive seasons from 2000-01 to 2002-03 and then again in 2005-06. He has been nominated for the award a total of seven times throughout his career.As of 2006, Lidström has played all of his thirteen NHL seasons for the Detroit Red Wings and a member of three Stanley Cup winning teams in 1996-97, 1997-98, and 2001-02.
He started his career in Fagersta, Sweden before moving on to play with his hometown team Västerås IK of the Swedish Elite League. In three seasons with the team, he played in 97 games, scoring 12 goals and 29 assists. Drafted by the Detroit Red Wings 53rd overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, Lidström joined the team in the 1991-92 NHL season, bypassing the American Hockey League. He would return to play for Västerås IK for brief periods during the NHL labor dispute in 1994-95. Lidström, who scored 60 points in his rookie season, finished second to Pavel Bure in voting for the Calder Trophy. He was selected to the NHL All-Rookie Team along with teammate Vladimir Konstantinov.
Known for his durability, he is consistently among the players with most time on the ice, averaging 28:07 minutes in the 2005-06 season, a career high. He won three consecutive Norris Trophies, from 2001 to 2003, becoming the first defenseman since Bobby Orr to win three straight. In the 2003-04 season, he played in his 1,000th game of his career, missing only 17 games total in 12½ seasons (1994-95 was shortened to 48 games instead of the usual 82 by a labor dispute). [link].
Never being a big and bruising defender, many experts say that secret behind his consistent game is his ability to read the game and when combined with his skating allows him to be at the correct spot of the ice at the right time. Instead of delivering a big body check he prefers to steal the puck and create a turnover. His reliance on brains rather than brawn might explain his lack of injuries. For most of his NHL career, he has studiously avoided drawing penalties, although with the introduction of the "new NHL" in 2005-06 saw him rack up his career high (50) in penalty minutes. The 2005-06 season also brought him his career high (16 goals, 64 assists for 80 points) in points.
In the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, Lidström was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player during the playoffs; he was the first European player to win it. He scored a goal and two assists in five games against the Carolina Hurricanes [link] in the finals that year.
On March 7, 2006, against the Phoenix Coyotes, he assisted on Pavel Datsyuk's goal to become the 68th NHL player, and 14th defenseman, to record 600 assists. [link]
On 30 June 2006, it was announced that Lidström had signed a two-year, $15.2 million contract with the Red Wings.
Lidström has been an alternate captain since the 1997-98 season.
Awards & achievements
- 1991- IIHF World Championship gold
- 1992- NHL All-Rookie Team
- 1996- Played in NHL All-Star Game
- 1998- NHL First All-Star Team
- 1998- Played in NHL All-Star Game
- 1999- NHL First All-Star Team
- 1999- Played in NHL All-Star Game
- 2000- NHL First All-Star Team
- 2000- Played in NHL All-Star Game
- 2001- NHL First All-Star Team
- 2001- James Norris Memorial Trophy
- 2001- Played in NHL All-Star Game
- 2002- NHL First All-Star Team
- 2002- James Norris Memorial Trophy
- 2002- Conn Smythe Trophy
- 2002- Played in NHL All-Star Game
- 2003- NHL First All-Star Team
- 2003- James Norris Memorial Trophy
- 2003- Played in NHL All-Star Game
- 2006- Olympic gold medal with Sweden
- 2006- Selected on the Olympic All-Star Team
- 2006- James Norris Memorial Trophy
- 2006- NHL First All-Star Team
Records
Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1991-92 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 80 | 11 | 49 | 60 | 22 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1992-93 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 84 | 7 | 34 | 41 | 28 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1993-94 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 84 | 10 | 46 | 56 | 26 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1994-95 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 43 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 6 | 18 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 8 | ||
| 1995-96 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 81 | 17 | 50 | 67 | 20 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 10 | ||
| 1996-97 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 79 | 15 | 42 | 57 | 30 | 20 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 1997-98 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 80 | 17 | 42 | 59 | 18 | 22 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 8 | ||
| 1998-99 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 81 | 14 | 43 | 57 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 4 | ||
| 1999-00 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 81 | 20 | 53 | 73 | 18 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 2000-01 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 82 | 15 | 56 | 71 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2001-02 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 78 | 9 | 50 | 59 | 20 | 23 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 2 | ||
| 2002-03 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 82 | 18 | 44 | 62 | 38 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2003-04 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 81 | 10 | 28 | 38 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 2005-06 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 80 | 16 | 64 | 80 | 50 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| NHL Totals | 1096 | 189 | 617 | 806 | 326 | 174 | 35 | 83 | 118 | 44 | ||||
International play
In the 2006 Winter Olympics, Lidström scored the winning goal for Sweden in the gold medal game against Finland. After the Olympic win he is one of the few Triple Gold Club members. [link]In Sweden he is known by his nickname "Lidas" (pronounced "LEE-duss"). He was selected on the 2006 Winter Olympics All-Star Team.
External links
- [Career statistics]
- [Nicklas Lidström's profile at eurohockey.net] - includes international and junior stats
- [Detroit Red Wings: Nicklas Lidstrom]
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