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Entries with the tag: niklas lidstrom
Goodbye Lidstrom?
by Paul on 04/20/12 at 01:20 PM ET
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from Kevin Allen of Rink Rap at USA TODAY,
Last year, when the Detroit Red Wings were facing elimination in the playoffs, there were numerous stories about whether it would it would be Lidstrom’s last game.
My take back then was that Lidstrom fans shouldn’t worry because it seemed clear to me that he wasn’t going to retire last summer. He was playing well enough to win the Norris Trophy, and he was having too much fun. When I talked to him, he didn’t seem like an athlete close to retirement.
But the Red Wings face elimination Friday night (8, CNBC), I think it is possible this could be his last game in a Detroit uniform.
Lidstrom has been playing season-to-season for several years, but this is the first time that I believe the possibility that he could retire is real.
At 41, he is still playing at a remarkably high level. He’s still among the league’s top five defensemen. I believe he’s still the NHL’s best one-on-one defender.
Below, check out Lidstrom’s first NHL goal and the second video is probably his most famous goal.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: niklas+lidstrom
Lidstrom On A Different Level
by Paul on 04/08/12 at 11:29 AM ET
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from Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press,
You will never figure him out.
Everybody around the Red Wings says that about Nicklas Lidstrom. Tell them you want to get inside the mind of Lidstrom—to understand his genius, to see what he sees. They laugh or shake their heads.
“It’s impossible to know how he can think that good,” coach Mike Babcock said.
Impossible?
“He’s Picasso,” general manager Ken Holland said. “They think differently. It’s a gift.”
OK, fine. Let’s just observe. Sit in the stands. Watch Lidstrom. Come back and watch again, and again and again, and ... well, admit it: You see nothing. You know you are watching one of the best players in hockey history. But he looks like just another good player to you.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: niklas+lidstrom
It’s Larionov’s Time
by Alanah McGinley on 06/13/08 at 12:55 PM ET
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From Pierre LeBrun at Sportsnet.ca,
It is not called the NHL Hall of Fame. I’m pretty sure it’s the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Which is why Tuesday, when the Hall’s selection committee gathers in Toronto to decide this year’s inductees, I hope Igor Larionov gets the nod.
“I think he should too,” six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings told Sportsnet.ca. “He’s that kind of special player. Watching him when I grew up in Europe, he was part of that Russian Five that never gave up the puck. They had it the whole time. [...] When I had a chance to play with him, I saw that too. He’s such a smart player. He wasn’t a big player but his smarts brought him so much success. He really deserves to be in the Hall.”
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: hhof,
hockey+hall+of+fame,
igor+larionov,
niklas+lidstrom
Defensemen Apparently Not Gentlemen
by Alanah McGinley on 06/11/08 at 10:43 PM ET
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From Jeff Z. Klein at the NYT Slap Shot,
Can you name the last time a defenseman was awarded the Lady Byng Trophy, the honor for the league’s most gentlemanly player?
As you think about that — and about the NHL Award ceremonies Thursday night — bear in mind that according to league criteria, the Byng is to go to the “player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.” Nothing in there says “forwards only.”
Give up? The last time the Lady Byng was awarded to a defenceman: 1954. Red Kelly was the winner.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, NHL Talk, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: lady+byng,
niklas+lidstrom
Wings Bring Sexy Back
by Alanah McGinley on 06/11/08 at 10:00 AM ET
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From Steve Schrader at the Free Press:
[Jay] Leno also asked if Timberlake taught them anything in return for the hockey lessons.
And the Wings launched into Timberlake’s tune “SexyBack,” singing “we’re bringing sexy back” once and then switching to “we’re bringing Stanley back.”
Video below:
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: chris+osgood,
jay+leno,
justin+timberlake,
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Post-Game #4—Zetterberg, Lidstrom & Osgood
by Alanah McGinley on 06/01/08 at 12:34 AM ET
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11:50pm ET: Updated below with some comments from Chris Osgood added.
Q. Henrik, can you describe just in general your defense tonight and specifically your defense on the five‑on‑three?
HENRIK ZETTERBERG: That was the one thing we wanted to do a little better today. We want to have a little bit more poise in our own end.
We wanted to make some good decisions down there. I think we did. They got opportunity to tie up the game with the five‑on‑three in the end there.
We played good. We tried to keep them outside and tried to be in the shooting lanes. And when they got a puck through, Ozzie made a save.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: chris+osgood,
henrik+zetterberg,
interview,
niklas+lidstrom,
quotes,
transcript
A “Real” European Captain
by Alanah McGinley on 05/30/08 at 04:58 PM ET
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From Rich Hofmann at the Philadelphia Daily News,
Johnny Gottselig is the answer to the trivia question. He was the captain of the Stanley Cup-winning Chicago Blackhawks in 1938. Though he was raised in Canada and played youth hockey there, he was born in Odessa, Russia. So, literally, Gottselig was the first European captain to win the Cup.
But, well, no. Gottselig left Russia as an infant. He was not trained there and his game was not shaped there. He was not a European in any kind of a hockey sense. He was from Saskatchewan.
Nicklas Lidstrom is not from Saskatchewan.
“It would mean a lot,” Lidstrom acknowledges when the question is asked, the question about what it would mean to be the first European born and trained captain to win the Cup, the first real European captain.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: niklas+lidstrom
Thursday with Osgood and Draper (Updated)
by Alanah McGinley on 05/29/08 at 01:29 PM ET
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Update 1:11pm ET: Added another interview to this post. Below you’ll find words from Niklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg.
___________________
Q. Chris, this week all your teammates and coaches have been saying that your ability to bounce back from losses or bad goals and things like that is really one of your strengths. How do you do that so easily, and last night is a game that’s easier or tougher to get past?
CHRIS OSGOOD: It’s over. We didn’t come into the series thinking we were going to win four straight. We were hoping to. But to say we expected it to be a hard series would be right on. Just play the game tomorrow. I mean, the next day, just keep doing the same thing as I’ve been doing. That’s about it. I haven’t really put any thought into last night, this morning.
I thought it was a real good game. Both teams played real well, and somebody has to win and lose every night. We were on the short end last night.
Q. If I could get you both to comment on this. Mike Babcock came in this morning, the morning after a loss, jovial with the media and joking. Can you talk about the way he kind of sets the mood for the team and kind of understands when to go at you and when to give you your space and how his feelings for that kind of thing?
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: chris+osgood,
henrik+zetterberg,
kris+draper,
niklas+lidstrom,
quotes,
transcript
