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Why Nicklas Lidstrom is the greatest defenseman of all time
We've been programed a long time to have a first reaction to the question, "Who is the greatest defenseman of all time?"
Answer: Bobby Orr.
But that should be changed, in my opinion, to Nicklas Lidstrom.
That's not meant as any disrespect to Orr. He was a breathtaking skater with stunning offensive skill. His defense was very good, despite all the risk taking, and he was rugged. It wasn't like the big, bad Bruins were doing the fighting for him. And he did change the game with his style of play.
He also had a knee ailment that shortened his career. His career was roughly half as long as that of Lidstrom. Longevity should count for a lot. And so should the understated play of Lidstrom, whose style is more an art form than a screaming headline about his brilliance. He has also been a study in persistence. Orr was 26 the last season he won the Norris Trophy; Lidstrom 30 when he first received the honor.
Lidstrom has played, and thrived, through three very distinctly different eras of hockey - the run-and-gun early-to-mid 1990s, the grab-and-hold period from the late 1990s-to-the strike year, and in the so-called "new" NHL. He's starred internationally, scoring the game-winning goal in the gold medal game at the Olympics for Sweden. The Red Wings have won four Stanley Cup championships with Lidstrom along the blue line, once with Lidstrom receiving the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Tonight, at NHL Awards, he is up for his seventh Norris Trophy. It was laughable last season he wasn't even nominated. Nor that he has never been seriously considered for the Hart Trophy given his value to the Red Wings.
He has accomplished so much it's odd that Lidstrom is somehow still unrecognized for what he is in hockey lore.
The best defenseman ever.
Answer: Bobby Orr.
But that should be changed, in my opinion, to Nicklas Lidstrom.
That's not meant as any disrespect to Orr. He was a breathtaking skater with stunning offensive skill. His defense was very good, despite all the risk taking, and he was rugged. It wasn't like the big, bad Bruins were doing the fighting for him. And he did change the game with his style of play.
He also had a knee ailment that shortened his career. His career was roughly half as long as that of Lidstrom. Longevity should count for a lot. And so should the understated play of Lidstrom, whose style is more an art form than a screaming headline about his brilliance. He has also been a study in persistence. Orr was 26 the last season he won the Norris Trophy; Lidstrom 30 when he first received the honor.
Lidstrom has played, and thrived, through three very distinctly different eras of hockey - the run-and-gun early-to-mid 1990s, the grab-and-hold period from the late 1990s-to-the strike year, and in the so-called "new" NHL. He's starred internationally, scoring the game-winning goal in the gold medal game at the Olympics for Sweden. The Red Wings have won four Stanley Cup championships with Lidstrom along the blue line, once with Lidstrom receiving the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Tonight, at NHL Awards, he is up for his seventh Norris Trophy. It was laughable last season he wasn't even nominated. Nor that he has never been seriously considered for the Hart Trophy given his value to the Red Wings.
He has accomplished so much it's odd that Lidstrom is somehow still unrecognized for what he is in hockey lore.
The best defenseman ever.
posted by Pat Caputo at
9:37 AM
6 Comments:
A bold statement, Book.
I wouldn't have agreed with you, even 5 years ago, but now you're in the ballpark. His name has to be mentioned with the greatest.
Best ever? He's not some puckhandling speed demon, and he's not a big hitter. But he's a great defenseman, and contributes mightily offensively. I watched Orr, and he was spectacular, and boy did he pile up the numbers. But you're right, the longevity wasn't there, and that's helping Lidstrom, not to mention the 4 Stanley Cups. I'll leave it up to the experts.
Hogwash. His value is overstated, especially in this town. He's slow and steady and lasted a long time. What's next? Cal Ripken being the best shortstop of all time? Gimme a break When the best the OP sports section can do is run a screaming headline about Lidstrom coming back for another year,it just goes to show what a sorry state of affairs the Detroit pro teams are in.
If longevity is the most important criteria then Lidstrom is in the conversation with ONLY Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque. But I think even then Coffey wins because he won the same number of cups, but his other statistics and awards dwarf ALL defencemen!
So now we come back to Orr. Eight consecutive Norris Trophies, ONLY defenseman to win a scoring title...even Paul Coffey didn't do that! Only player EVER to win, Hart, Norris, Art Ross and Conn Smythe in the SAME year...all before he turned 30!!
Your comment to me about the era Orr played...1968 forward ...the first years of expansion, when supposedly Orr " padded " his offensive stats. When you look at the statistics, Lidstrom played when the avg goals per game were HIGHER than when Orr played. But how do you explain Orr's incredible +/- stats during the expansion era and beyond. His total +/- is HIGHER than Lidstroms even though he played HALF as long!
Look, Lidstrom needs to be considered one of the all time great defencemen, maybe even the 2nd best...Orr changed the way defencemen NOW play..including Lidstrom...heck you even point out all the important goals Lidtrom scored internationally. So Orr really allowed a skilled defenceman like Lidstrom with offensive skills to thrive in the NHL. Orr did not have nearly the international experience since in those days the pros were NOT allowed to play against the " amateurs " internationally.
Again, if Longevity is the main criteria, then we should say Gordie Howe was the greatest hockey player ever...even though Gretzky's ASSIST total is more than ANY players TOTAL career points.
Stats mean something Pat.
Yeah, I pretty much agree with John.
I do think Lidstrom is the 2nd best defenseman to ever play the game. But no other defenseman has ever completely dominated games like Orr did.
I have to disagree with Coffey being even considered in the same league as Lidstrom though. Coffey was basically a forward playing defense. Lidstrom is and always has been one of the best at both ends of the ice.
Lidstrom is without a doubt at least the 2nd best D-man to play the game. I would lean toward Lidstrom and Orr being tied for best Defenseman of all time.
The talk about Coffey is just silly, as great as he was, he just isn't in the same conversation.
I think that if you take that 1 truly great year away from Orr, Lidstrom would win hands-down.
Also, Lidstrom really was robbed out of many Norris trophies. There was a terrible bias against non-North-American players during a very large part of his career. It is laughable that Lidstrom wasn't even nominated last year. I don't Believe Duncan Keith was better than Lidstrom and I don't think Chara was either. I think there were some others he should have won. The fact is that we could easily be talkling about Lidstrom having 10 Norris trophies, and then it isn't even close. In that case, Lidstrom is again hands-down, the best defenseman ever.
Scott: Duncan Keith agrees with you! When he was interviewed backstage right after having won his Norris, he stated simply "to me, Lidstrom's still the best. In other words, 'he's better than me, and he's better than every other D man in the League right now.'
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