Sports
Nicklas Lidström
born 1970 · ice hockey defenseman, executive
Swedish Hall of Fame defenseman who played all twenty NHL seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, won four Stanley Cups, and became the first European-born captain to lead a team to the championship.
- Born
Krylbo, Sweden
age 56- Birth name
- Erik Nicklas Lidström
- Also known as
- The Perfect Human
- Detroit years
- 1991–2012, 2022–
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Detroit picked Lidström 53rd overall in 1989, a bargain that became one of the best draft choices in franchise history. He debuted in 1991 and built a reputation as the league's most efficient defenseman, rarely out of position and almost never fighting, which earned him the nickname "The Perfect Human" from teammates. He won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 1997, 1998 and 2002, and in 2002 became the first European player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Named team captain in 2006, he led the Red Wings to a fourth title in 2008, becoming the first European-trained captain in NHL history to hoist the Cup. He won the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman a record-tying seven times and retired in 2012 after twenty seasons entirely in Detroit, never playing for another NHL club. The Red Wings retired his No. 5 in 2014, and in 2022 he returned to the organization as vice president of hockey operations.
Highlights
- Four Stanley Cup titles with the Red Wings (1997, 1998, 2002, 2008)
- First European-trained team captain to win the Stanley Cup, 2008
- Seven James Norris Memorial Trophies as the NHL's best defenseman
- 2002 Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, the first European winner
- Played all 20 NHL seasons with Detroit; No. 5 retired in 2014
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Played here · 1991–2012
Joe Louis Arena
Demolished · 1979–2017
His home ice for all twenty NHL seasons and all four Stanley Cup runs; demolished in 2019.