Nicklas Lidstrom has seemingly done everything in a Red Wings uniform. He is an active player with a place at the Hall of Fame already secured. He is also the only player that could have possibly filled in as captain when Steve Yzerman called it a career. While he will never truly gain the full respect that Yzerman received, he is one of the few remaining links that connect the Zetterberg-Datsyuk era to the teams from the late ’90s.
Who then better to get the Red Wings back on track than their current captain? In a night when the city was more worried about Vikings and Giants football, the Wings had it taken to them by a 5-0 margin by the Kings. Following a day to reflect, and visit a local children’s hospital, Lidstrom just went back to work and polished off a Blues team that has had their number of late. His three goal effort was nothing short of stellar and another reminder that he is simply timeless at the point for the Wings.
How refreshing is it as well to see the Red Wings in absolute cruise control mode right now? There are no questions of whether they’re playoff bound this time around and, withholding a sudden meltdown, are merely playing for their seeding right now. A lot of the credit goes to those veteran players like Lidstrom that clearly did not want their careers winding down with the stain of losing to their name.