Lidstrom Says Goodbye

Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom officially retired earlier today ending his brilliant twenty year career with the only NHL team he has ever known. Lidstrom was indicative of all that is right with great people in sports, he is well spoken, thoughtful, kind and carries himself with the respect he always showed others. He was not one to lose his cool and was a consummate professional. He learned from one of the best in Steve Yzerman and has lead the way the past few years, (including captaining them to a Stanley Cup in 2008), for those young stars in the Red Wings locker room as to how to go about the game the right way. He is a first ballot Hall of Famer and will go down as one of the best defencemen to ever play the game. He was reliable in his own end and highly skilled in the other. He won 7 Norris Trophies, 4 Stanley Cups and a Conn Smyth trophy to go along with 11 All Star appearances and a gold medal with Sweden in 2006. Need I say more? Slick Nic was a great puck mover who prided himself on always getting better and was never one to be beat one on one. He was not a physical player, instead utilizing his speed, skill and vision to make even the most difficult plays seem routine. His presence on the back end was something so familiar to those in Detroit and across the league that the question now is how do you possibly go about replacing a guy like him? He noted in his retirement speech that the tank is not empty there simply isn't enough to play at the level he wants to, which is saying a lot, because at 42 years of age he is still one of the top blue liners in the NHL. Like Martin Brodeur he seemed ageless and now the burden falls to the like of Nicklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson to lead the Red Wings back end. Who will replace him as Captain? Personall my guess is Henrik Zetterberg, a man not that unlike Lidstrom, perhaps a bit more fiery, but a man who lets his actions do the talking. Lidstrom leaving will certainly mean now that the Wings must look to their future and I think he was wise to do so, so early in the off season so the team has a better chance to prepare for life without him, but what else would you have expect from #5?