After the season and playoffs are over, we will start to hear more and more about who will (should) be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Last year, I started a series called “Making the Case” in which I went through some of the guys who are eligible but not inducted into the Hall of Fame. There will be a list at the bottom of the blog of those who I’ve gone through in the past. I would like to get that started again and hopefully before the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Selection Committee has their vote, we can do a vote of our own based on the same rules as the HHOF’s bylaws.
The first few players I will make a case for will seem very obvious to the hard core hockey fans. It is very easy to say “oh he should be in” or “he shouldn’t”, but sometimes it’s just good to have the full scope of one’s career in front of you to make that decision. This in itself creates a standard between the “sure fire” guys and the “on the bubble” guys. On top of that, being able to see a full picture of one’s career instead of snippets causes a real appreciation of how great that person actually was in his chosen craft.
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“Candidates for election as Honoured Members in the player category shall be chosen on the basis of their playing ability, sportsmanship, character and their contribution to their team or teams and to the game of hockey in general”
There will likely be no debate for Nicklas Lidstrom to be included as part of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015 as he is widely considered to be one of the best of all time in his position. He played at a consistent level throughout his entire 20 year career with very few injuries, while the teams he played for played at a remarkable high level. This defenseman, when you look at his overall career, did things that may never be seen again. This puts him at or near the top as the best player ever to come from Sweden and probably the only defenseman to be worthy enough to be mentioned in the same breath as the great Bobby Orr.
Nicklas Erik Lidstrom was drafted 53rd overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings. He didn’t join the Red Wings until the 1991-92 season where he would put up 60 points as a defenseman. This placed him 2nd in Calder Trophy voting to
Pavel Bure and was selected to the all-rookie team that year. During the first few years of his time with the Red Wings, they were known as a team that could never win the big one. That was a stigma that the entire team had, even
Steve Yzerman who is now considered to be one of the greatest leaders of all-time.
Despite that, Lidstrom quietly was able to gain respect as one of the best defensemen in the league. In each of his first 5 years in the league he never had less than 41 points and also never was below a +/- of 7. Eventually in 1997, the Detroit Red Wings would win their first Stanley Cup since 1955 where the stigma from the team would disappear.
Lidstrom lifts the Cup ending Detroit’s 42 year Stanley Cup drought
Once they won that first Stanley Cup, the stigma that was that they couldn’t win the big one turned into a reputation of being one of the most successful franchises in NHL history. The Lidstrom led Red Wings would go on to win 3 more Stanley Cups in 1998, 2002, and 2008. In those latter two Stanley Cup Championships, Lidstrom would make NHL history as in 2002 he would become the first European born and trained player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy and in 2008 he would become the first European born and trained player to ever captain his team to a Stanley Cup. Prior to this the stigma was that European players could not lead a team in the NHL environment, such ideas were shattered with Lidstrom. Since then, the only Europeans to win the Conn Smythe since was
Henrik Zetterberg with the Red Wings in 2008 and
Evegni Malkin with the Penguins in 2009 and the only European captain to win the Stanley Cup was
Zdeno Chara of the Bruins in 2011.
Breaking ground for Lidstrom continues when you look at his success as a defenseman. He won a total of 7 Norris Trophies (2001-2003, 2006-2008, 2011) where he again, was the first European born and trained player to win the trophy. He was the fourth defenseman to win the trophy 3 times in a row (
Doug Harvey (1956-1958, 1960-1962),
Pierre Pilote (1963-1965),
Bobby Orr (1968-1975)), and only the 3rd player to win the Norris at least 7 times (Bobby Orr has 8, Doug Harvey also has 7). He is also the oldest Norris Trophy winner, winning the award at the age of 41 years and 57 days in 2011.
The NHL accolades don’t stop there. He was named as a 1st team all-star a total of 10 times (1998-2003, 2006-2008, 2011) and was put on the 2nd all-star team twice in 2009 and 2010. This goes along with his 12 all-star game appearances in 1996, 1998-2004, 2007-2009, and 2011. He was the first European born and trained defenseman to get 1,000 points, played the most regular season games in any position by a European born and trained player (1,564), and most games played by a player who spent his entire career with one team (1,564). Lastly, he is tied with
Larry Robinson to play on a playoff team for 20 consecutive years… every year of his career.
Lidstrom poses with the Norris Trophy that he would win 7 times
Lidstrom’s success hasn’t been limited to the NHL level. In 2006, he helped lead Sweden to a Gold Medal in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games and was named to the tournament’s all-star team. He won a Gold Medal in the 1991 World Championships, a Bronze Medal in the 1994 World Championships, and a Silver Medal in the 2004 World Championships. His Stanley Cups and Gold Medals in both the World Championships and Olympics makes him a member of the Triple Gold Club.
Needless to say all of these accolades prove the amount of respect Mr. Lidstrom has throughout the NHL and the World of Hockey. The Red Wings have retired his #5 as soon as they could after the 2012 lockout where Chris Chelios probably said it best about his former teammate “There’s been guys who are great players, but no one’s better than Nick. As good? Yes. But this is as big as it gets. He’s one of the best athletes ever and… if you’re gonna talk about someone who’s perfect, Nick’s pretty darn close.” Or if you want to simplify what Chelios said, you can go by Red Wing’s GM, Ken Holland called him, “The most valuable player of his generation.
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Feel free to let me know who you think should get into the HHOF by email at
[email protected] or hit me up on Twitter @Kirshenblatt
HHOF Making the Case:
Steve Larmer
Reggie Leach
Alexander Mogilny
Pat Quinn
Kerry Fraser
Paul Henderson
Chris Osgood
Marguerite Norris
Eric Lindros
Curtis Joseph
Theo Fleury
Carl Brewer
Don Cherry
March Recchi
Honoured Members:
Mike Modano
Pat Burns 
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