OT: Red Wings to retire #5 Jersey

Submitted by Fhshockey112002 on

Title say it all, Red Wings plan on retiring Nick Lidstrom's #5 jersey.  Retirement will take place March 6th prior to Colorado game. 

Red Wings also stated this would have occured last season if not for the shortened season.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/wings/2013/08/01/nicklas-lidst…

gbdub

August 1st, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^

I go more towards "face of the franchise" - Yzerman is a good example, not statistically the greatest player but undoubtedly The Captain.



Ozzie was here forever, a Red Wing most of his career. He's got 3 Cups and a 400 wins at one of the toughest positions in sports.



Among all goaltenders ever, he's 10th in wins, 7th in GAA, and 4th in win percentage. Easily the best Red Wing goalie since Sawchuk, who does have his number retired.

gbdub

August 1st, 2013 at 11:23 PM ^

I understand that. Obviously Stevie deserves to be there. But my point is what puts him into retired jersey territory isn't his raw stats alone. He was very, very, very good, but he played with and against others with more raw talent.



It's his leadership, longevity, sacrifice for the team that makes him legendary as a Red Wing. And I look at jersey retirement as an award primarily based on what you did for a particular team.



Ozzie's raw stats are very good. What puts him into the pantheon, IMHO, is that no other Red Wing not already retired has been more integral to the success of the team in the last couple decades, a prolonged period of sustained success in the NHL.

kdhoffma

August 2nd, 2013 at 1:10 AM ^

Yzermans stats alone were enough to get his number retired.  Sure his transformation to a 2-way player and from a lead by example to a locker room leader after Bowman arrived made him a no-brainer... but make no mistake, his number would have been retired regardless.

I'd also like to know who these players were he played with and against that had more raw offensive talent?  Gretzky and Lemiux were really the only two of his era above him.  The only red wing teammate that a case could be made for talentwise would be Fedorov.  Not sure when you were born, but I think you are underselling just how good Yzerman was in his prime... which is easy to do consider he was overshadowed by Gretzky and Lemiux.  Had he not been in his prime when 2 of the top 5 players of all time were in their's, he would have a few Hart trophies.

gbdub

August 2nd, 2013 at 10:03 AM ^

You really misunderstand. I'm not arguing against Yzerman, I'm arguing FOR Osgood. I just picked Yzerman as an obvious example of a guy that meant more than just stats (and I think jersey retirement should be based on more than just stats).

For raw talent, I think Federov was as good or better in his prime (though he lacked Yzermans career staying power). Brett Hull has an argument (definitely as a goal scorer). Obviously Gretzky and Lemieux. Lidstrom and Ray Borque were probably more dominant at their position than Yzerman at his. But the Red Wings are not the same Red Wings if you swap any of those guys for Stevie.

Anyway I don't want to argue about Yzerman, because we agree: he was amazing, the 2nd greatest Red Wing of all time, full stop.

Your sole takeaway should be: I think that, in the recent era, Osgood has the best argument to add his jersey to the rafters (though I don't think he's "better" than any currently up there). Hank and Datsuyk are behind him till they win another cup. The only other recent era player you could arguably put ahead of him (other than Yzerman and Lidstrom) would be Larionov (if only to have one of the Russian 5 retired).

LSAClassOf2000

August 1st, 2013 at 7:14 PM ^

CBS Detroit reiterated some of the statistical reasons that make this retirement more than warranted, I would say (LINK).

"A four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Detroit Red Wings and a seven-time winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the National Hockey League’s best defenseman, Lidstrom finished his illustrious career ranked in the top 10 all-time among defensemen with 264 goals (ninth), 878 assists (sixth), 1,142 points (sixth) and 132 power-play goals (fifth). He played in 263 postseason games, second all-time among NHL players (Chris Chelios – 266), and 1,564 regular season games, second in franchise history behind only Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe (1,687)."

This is indeed well-deserved, and as the Wings' official release mentioned, his durability is as impressive as all that he accomplished as a Red Wing, including several club records in various categories. 

goblue1213

August 1st, 2013 at 7:15 PM ^

Nik was always a classy guy and Mr Illitch is a classy owner. It is a well deserved honor. My fiancee got me a pick autographed by him and Stevie Y as an engagement gift.

Charlestown Chiefs

August 1st, 2013 at 9:25 PM ^

Both Pavel and Z will hang from the rafters one day.  Datsyuk is probably still the best combination of offense talent and defensive skill in the game.  And even without another Cup (which hopefully isn't the case) his jersey will go up as well as Zetterberg's jersey.  You don't have to just take my word for it.  Ask Wayne Gretzky who said "“I think Zetterberg is the best player in the game (at his age),” Gretzky told NHL.com. “He’s been so physically beat up from the Stanley Cup playoffs, Olympics – all that goes with that – but he’s just very special.” 

If the Great One is noticing I can promise others notice as well.  Link: http://redwings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=653805

brandanomano

August 1st, 2013 at 7:27 PM ^

Absolute no-brainer. It'll be a very long time before we see another D-man like Lids in the NHL. It will probably be quite some time until another jersey gets retired, unless the wings win like 2 more cups with Datsyuk and Zetterberg.

stephenrjking

August 1st, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^

Lidstrom might be the second-best defenseman of all time. It's remarkable how fortunate we are as Wing fans that we had multiple legends to watch for decades of greatness.

I remember how shocked the world was in '97 when the much-talked-about matchup between Vladimir Konstantinov and the Eric Lindros Legion of Doom line never materialized. Bowman matched Lidstrom to the line, and they were invisible for the entire series. Turns out Lidstrom was better than every player on that Flyers roster.

Unfiltered Manball

August 1st, 2013 at 10:20 PM ^

in the rafters.  Statues of both him and Yzerman should also be comissioned to join the others in the new arena.

Anyone else ever wonder how Nick never won an Hart trophy?  Or a Lady Bing?  Should have at least 1 Hart and about 10 Bings.  Simply the best defenseman in a long time.

 

bronxblue

August 1st, 2013 at 10:32 PM ^

Definitely should be done, and I like that they are moving forward so quickly with it.  Will be interested to see who joins in celebrating that day.

Naked Bootlegger

August 1st, 2013 at 11:10 PM ^

Not only one of the best all-time defencemen (not from Canada, but couldn't resist), but one of the classiest guys to ever lace up in the NHL.   #5 will look fantastic hanging from the Joe's ceiling...or whatever the new rink will be called.

Rmilkman

August 2nd, 2013 at 3:28 AM ^

About time. Easily the second best defenseman to play the game, and there's certainly an argument for him being the best, although that's a bit of a stretch. Not to mention he had to fill the leadership role of THE captain after he retired. He's definitely my favorite player, and it's awesome that he's going to have his jersey in the rafters. Also, he gets bonus points for being in the minority of hockey players that can speak English properly.

reshp1

August 2nd, 2013 at 10:08 AM ^

Well deserved. I've never watched anyone excel at the top of a sport with such ease and effortlessness, especially a sport as rough and full contact as hockey. He was always in the right place and hardly ever more than a poke check away from neutralizing a dangerous play. The fact that he captained the team was just icing on the cake.