Fan In Van

How Good Is Nick Lidstrom?

I’m going to bring up the Red Wings’ captain for a number of reasons. The first and most obvious reason is that Nick Lidstrom can make hockey history within the next two weeks and become the first European captain in history to win the Stanley Cup. The second is because I feel angry that Lidstrom, a five-time Norris winner, is probably one of the most underrated players in NHL history.

It’s not an exaggeration, it is fact.

A quick Google search can tell you a lot of easy things about Nick Lidstrom. Let’s put aside the fact that in his 1252 games as an NHLer he’s got 212 goals and 938 points to his name. Here, numbers are numbers. We know that Lidstrom can put up points as well he can play defence.

But to me, Nick Lidstrom epitomizes the word ‘defence’. He is THE best shut-down defenceman in the game today and even more amazing, he makes it look easy. He never gets caught out of position and he rarely makes an error on the ice. But when Steve Yzerman took the spotlight in Detroit during the 1990s and early 2000s, Lidstrom remained behind the scenes, carrying the Red Wing defence to three titles in a decade.

Consider this: In his rookie season, Lidstrom scored 11 goals and 60 points in 80 games as a defenceman. A defenceman. That season he led the Red Wings’ defence in scoring by a mile and was named to the All-Rookie team, but did not win the Calder Trophy. That honour went to Vancouver’s Pavel Bure, and perhaps deservedly so.

That was, believe it or not, 16 seasons ago. Today, Lidstrom is 38 years old, and while he’s no Chris Chelios, to be 38 and put up 70 points this season is somewhat of a miracle. What else is a miracle is the fact that Lidstrom has remained very healthy over his career. In his 16 seasons as an NHL pro, Lidstrom has missed only 28 games due to injury. This year he missed the most games in his career with six. He’s no ironman, either, but he sure as hell knows how to stay healthy.

What could possibly be the biggest travesty is the fact that Lidstrom has never won a Hart Trophy for Most Valuable Players. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s we’ve seen the Lemieuxs, the Gretzkys and Crosbys take all the spotlight and the credit in the NHL, but not once has Lidstrom won the trophy. Chris Pronger won it once in 2000, but Lidstrom has yet to win the Hart.

Sure, Lidstrom has won five Norris Trophies. In fact, his five defenseman-of-the-year awards tie him with the legendary Ray Bourque and only two behind possibly the greatest player in NHL history, Bobby Orr.

Bobby Orr. Now there’s a name which shouts dominance. Orr won the Hart Trophy three times in a row between 1970 and 1972. Now I’m not trying to say Nick Lidstrom is on the same plateau as Bobby Orr because that was a different period and era of NHL hockey, but if Orr is #1 in best defencemen of all time, it’s not a stretch to say that by the time Lidstrom retires he could be #2.
All this brings me back to today. Lidstrom, one of the most underrated players of all-time, has the chance to make one of the biggest marks on the game, and that is to become the first Euro captain to pry the Stanley Cup from Gary Bettman’s hands and raise it upon victory. It may happen, or it may not. But win or lose, Lidstrom’s impact on the NHL should be widely known and revered.