The Detroit Red Wings have scheduled a Thursday morning press conference for defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom to address the media, a likely indicator that the Red Wings' captain is set to retire after 20 seasons in the NHL. While team general manager Ken Holland would not divulge the nature of Lidstrom's planned comments, saying that Lidstrom had earned the right to announce his own decision, his decision last year to return to Detroit was announced via a conference call, and analyst Darren Dreger of TSN said via his Twitter account (@DarrenDreger) that it "sure sounds like Lidstrom is retiring." That analysis was followed by a Twitter report from beat writer Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, who cited an anonymous source in reporting that Lidstrom will indeed retire on Thursday.
Lidstrom, 42, posted 34 points (11 goals, 23 assists) in 70 games for Detroit during the regular season, the lowest full-season total of his career. In 1564 NHL regular-season games, the native of Vasteras, Sweden has 264 goals and 878 assists. He's second only to Jaromir Jagr among active NHL players in assists, and third in points behind Jagr and Teemu Selanne.
Lidstrom also has 54 goals and 129 assists in 263 playoff games, including Stanley Cup victories in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008. He had five goals and 11 assists in 23 playoff games in 2002, when he became the first European-born player ever to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and three goals and 10 assists in 22 games in the 2008 playoffs, when he became the first European-born player to captain a team to the Stanley Cup.
Lidstrom retired from Olympic play two years ago following Sweden's loss to Slovakia at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He did not play for his home country in this year's IIHF World Championship, co-hosted by Sweden, where he would have joined Red Wings teammates Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, as well as Wings prospect Calle Jarnkrok, who signed with Detroit on Wednesday.
Lidstrom's press conference is scheduled for Thursday morning in Detroit at 11 a.m. ET.
