Detroit Red Wings: Top 5 Homegrown Detroit Defencemen

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#1: Nicklas Lidstrom (1991-2012)

Who did you think it was going to be? Brendan Smith? I’m sure nobody thought it would be Smith, just going for emphasis there. Picking Nicklas Lidstrom as the number one homegrown Red Wings’ defenceman was the easiest choice for me to make on this list. What can I say about “The Perfect Human” that hasn’t been said? I’ll just let Saint Nick’s numbers speak for themselves.

He earned 7 seven Norris Trophies in a ten-year span, and he is also a 4 time Stanley Cup Champion. During one of his Stanley Cup runs, Lidstrom won the Conn Smythe trophy (2002). Speaking of all his trophies, Nicklas Lidstrom was the first European-born and trained player to win the Norris Trophy, The Conn Smythe Trophy, and to captain a Stanley Cup Winning team. He is also the first European-born trained player to reach 1,000 career points.

Lidstrom holds numerous NHL and Detroit franchise records, basically every record for a defenceman. Lidstrom’s 1,142 career points are more than twice the next highest scoring defenceman in Detroit history. He was truly a player who helped define and restore the winning tradition of Detroit Red Wings’ hockey.

In his book Leave No Doubt, former Red Wings’ coach Mike Babcock had this to say about Lidstrom;

"“Do you know why Nick Lidstrom is one of the greatest to ever play the game? First is his immense talent. But another thing about Nick is he never gets bored with the details…The guy tapes his stick today with the same meticulous pride and attention to that he did as a rookie. It’s amazing, really. He knows it all counts.”"

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