411mania’s NHL Conference Call Coverage: Nicklas Lidstrom

Posted by Neil Borenstein on 09.27.2007

One of the league’s best defenseman talks about Chris Chelios, the Central Division, shots to the head and much more!

With a week remaining before the puck drops on the NHL regular season (except for the Ducks and Kings, who start on Sept. 29 in London), the league continues its conference calls with some the NHL's biggest stars. This time, it wrangled up Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings.

Lidstrom is the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the league's best defenseman – something he has been honored with five of the past six years. A man known well for his leadership and offensive skill from the blue line, Lidstrom is also one of the best defenders in the game. He finished first among defenseman and third among all players with a plus-40 plus/minus rating, continuing his career-long streak of never having a minus season. Lidstrom's offense dipped a bit from the 2005-2006 season, but he still managed to put up 62 points last year. He did that between 13 goals and 49 assists. Thirty-three of his points came on the power play.

Here are some highlights from the conference call:

Nicklas LidstromPhoto courtesy of the NHL

On The Red Wings

Reflection over the summer about getting close to winning it all last season:

"We thought that we had a great opportunity to be in the Final and fight for the Stanley Cup. I thought we had some unlucky breaks in that Anaheim series. You know, being without Mathieu Schneider and Nik Kronwall didn't help us. Having two top-four defensemen not playing in that series hurt us a bit. Even though we were missing some players, we were real close to taking the next step.

It's disappointing, but on the other hand we have some young players that really got a great experience out of playing in the playoffs and going deep in the playoffs and realizing what it takes to win. It's a completely different mentality once you reach the playoffs. Hopefully our younger players learned a lot from last year's experience."

Team imitating styles:

"I think we've seen that when I first broke into the league, too. Teams started playing a little bit more defensively, especially the expansion teams were focusing on playing good defensive style and not giving up too many scoring chances. I think a lot of teams imitated that back in the ‘90s. I think the Devils are a good example of teams trying to play like the Devils did in the ‘90s.

Even now with the way the game has changed from the past five or six years, you know, it's more a speed game now with the referees calling hooking and holding. You got to be a good skating team. I think that's what you see now, teams being a lot faster, using their speed a lot more."

Can Detroit's style win the championship?:

"We feel that, yeah, we can win the championship with the style that we have. I think we're tough to play against, meaning that we try to keep teams on the outside, try giving them shots from bad angles, counting on our goalies to make the saves, kind of pushing teams on the outside. That's the style we're playing defensively.

Offensively we try to be creative and use our speed. I think we're going to be a little quicker this year than last year. That's one of the things we've been working on, using our speed a lot more."

Feelings on direction of the team:

"We feel great about our team … [W]e've lost some veteran players in Mathieu Schneider, [Todd] Bertuzzi, Robert Lang. But the guys that are going to get an opportunity to play more are [Johan] Franzen, [Valtteri] Filppula is going to get a bigger role, [Jiri] Hudler is going to get a chance to play on the top two lines. We've seen just the younger players get a bigger role on our teams.

I think from what they went through last year in the playoffs, I think that's going to help us going into this year with the experience or just being around the team. Even though you didn't play, being around the team, seeing what it takes to prepare for a long playoff run. The younger players will get a bigger role in our team, are going to get a bigger opportunity to contribute, too."

Chris Chelios' longevity in the league:

"You know, I don't see him slowing down at all. I can see him playing even next year, too. You know, he's such a competitor, Cheli. You're never going to get that out of him. His off-ice conditioning is great, too. If you look at him, you don't think he's 45 the way he works out, takes care of himself in the offseason. That's one of the big reasons he's still in the league, too."

On The Central Division

What the division looks like for the season:

"Well, I haven't played against any of them really yet. I think the Blackhawks added some players that I think will help them up front. We've seen Robert Lang, he has been with us for a few years, I think he's going to be a good centerman and a good offensive player for the Blackhawks. I think Nashville lost a couple players with [Kimmo] Timonen who was a big leader on their team, their captain. I think he was one of the biggest assets they had on the blue line. Same with [Scott] Hartnell, as well, losing him. I think they're still going to be a strong team because they're playing a real strict system where they're not really giving up a whole lot on the defensive end. I think Nashville will still be a good team.

St. Louis and Columbus, I haven't really seen a whole lot of what they've been doing. I know St. Louis added [Paul] Kariya, which adds speed to their lineup, especially up front. I think we're going to have some tough games in our division. I think teams, especially a team like Chicago, can improve with the players they added."

Kariya bringing leadership to the Blues:

"I think he can help their team in the locker room, as well. Having a speedy winger like Paul, you're going to have someone to look out for all the time, who can create separations, who can bring back the D. The D is going to be a step back when he's coming with that speed he's got. I think he'll be an asset for their team, as well, just with the speed that he brings to their team."

On Hits To The Head

How are they being enforced right now, and how should they be enforced in the future? (in reference to the Steve Downie hit on Dean McAmmond on Sept. 25):

"I think it should be reinforced strongly, especially leaving your feet and going for the head, especially blindsided like he [McAmmond] got last night. I just saw it briefly this morning. But those are the kind of things that we don't need in this league and I think we have to really set an example when things like that happen. So I think they should be looking strongly at things like that, especially blows to the head."

Responsibility of players for their own safety:

"I think in a way you are responsible for your own safety, too. You can't be facing the boards when you're a few feet away. You got to think about things like that. But I think the players have to respect one another, too. You can't jump and get your elbows up in someone's face or head. Those are the kind of things that we have to respect our fellow players a lot more. We have to shy away from that.

It's okay, fighting is still legal. You can still score often, have a good honest fight. But I think we have to get rid of the cheap shots, the ones to the head and the ones blindsiding and jumping. That's what we have to get away from."

What's needed to get hits to the head out of the game?:

"It's been talked about amongst the players and with the league as well, that we have to shy away from it and stop doing it. I think suspension is one thing. You can look at a more severe suspension if it happens. And if it's a repeat offender, you can look at even more seriously.

I think that's one of the things that the league can do, suspension. They can get a guy if it happens a lot. Just a matter of respecting one another a lot more than what we've seen here in the last year or two."

Lack of respect among players now compared to previous generations:

"Maybe a little bit. I think we had a bit more tougher guys in our lineups when I first broke into the league 15 years ago where that kind of took care of itself on the ice. You still have the cheap shots or the blindsided shots, but I think you had more respect amongst each other, too, with that older generation, where if you had something like that happen, you would have players square off and kind of take care of that business on the ice.

I think with the roster being as it is, we got 23 players, you're looking at more fighting going down, you see more players, you know, playing a lot more and you see fights on the ice. I think that could be one of the reasons why it's going up, too."


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