from Dan Rosen of NHL.com,

"I heard lots of great things about him before I met him through some of the scouts and people in Sweden that he had great potential and was really a gifted player that could be a top player, and I knew he was going to be a high draft pick. But my first impression was the size he had," Lidstrom told NHL.com by phone from Sweden on Tuesday. "Being 18 years old and having that size, that's a big advantage. But you've got to be able to handle it too.

"He seems able to do the best with it."...

"It's great to see," said Lidstrom, who only watches highlights of the games because of the early morning start time in Sweden. "It's great to see him develop into the type of player that he had great potential of being. He's only 24 years old too, so he hasn't even hit his prime yet and he's playing like a veteran out there. That's been really enjoyable to watch."

Hedman also remembers his first meeting with Lidstrom.

"I was really nervous," he said. "I don't remember what questions I asked."

He didn't really have to ask anything. Hedman watched Lidstrom for years as a kid growing up in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden. Hedman studied Lidstrom and tried to emulate some of what he did for the Detroit Red Wings.

"He's such a legend," Hedman said of Lidstrom. "It's impossible to try to compare yourself to someone like that. But I tried to look at his game and take some things from his game and put it in my own game. That's something I did growing up and I still do it now."

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