It was so long ago the Red Wings last played a Game 7 away from Joe Louis Arena, it was before Nicklas Lidstrom wore the team's red and white sweater.
It's unimaginable to think of the Red Wings without Lidstrom, isn't it?
He has been on the blue line for all four Stanley Cup championships the Red Wings have captured since breaking a more than four-decade drought in 1997. He joined the Red Wings in the fall of '91 — mere months after their road Game 7 opening-round loss to the St. Louis Blues.
And it is pleasant to look back upon.
The way the Red Wings' nucleus of players came up together and struggled through playoff disappointments, only made breaking through that much sweeter. The manner they have maintained a standard of excellence for nearly two decades is the envy of all professional sports, not only hockey.
When Steve Yzerman retired, the Red Wings lost their heart, but they have won another title since, and been able to maintain such a high level overall, because their soul — Lidstrom — remains in place.
Can you envision just any other hockey player replacing Yzerman as captain? With Lidstrom, the transition has been seamless.
Like Yzerman, Lidstrom has become an icon in this town, but it's been in an understated way.
So much so there has been little hype about his 40th birthday on Wednesday. Or that he is on the final season of his contract, and there is a possibility he played his last game in Detroit on Sunday. Or that he could possibly be playing his last game as Red Wing tonight, if they lose.
The opening-round series with Phoenix has been strange. Lidstrom hasn't played his best hockey. The Red Wings' specialty units, which he keys on both ends of the ends of the ice, were dreadful in the Red Wings' Game 6 loss Sunday. The previous Sunday, also in a home loss, Lidstrom was an unthinkable — for him — minus-3 in a playoff game.
While outlandish praise for Lidstrom has been uncommon, criticism of him has been nil. What has there been to criticize? He wins the Norris Trophy and Stanley Cup championships regularly. He is a unique player, who clearly ranks among the Top 5 defensemen to ever play the game, and arguably among the best 20 hockey players of all-time. Yet, there have been a smattering of calls the last couple weeks to sports talk radio from fans criticizing Lidstrom's play, some harshly.
Doesn't seem fair to Lidstrom, nor his legacy, particularly if he were to walk away from the game following the playoffs.
This has been a tremendously taxing season for him.
The Red Wings went from a team that could win highly-scoring games to one that generally can only win playing tight defensively in front of a rookie goalie, Jimmy Howard.
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