page_title: Nicklas Lidström
section_title: Retirement
hierarchical_section_title: Nicklas Lidström / Playing career / Retirement
caption_attribution_description: English: Retired numbers at Joe Louis Arena
context_page_description: Nicklas Lidström is a Swedish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, which he captained for the final six seasons of his career. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defencemen in NHL history.
  Over his 20 NHL seasons, Lidström won four Stanley Cup championships, seven James Norris Memorial Trophies, one Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, and was voted into 12 NHL All-Star Games. The Red Wings never missed the playoffs during his career, the longest in league history for a player never missing the playoffs. Lidström was the first European-born-and-trained captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team, as well as the first European player named playoff MVP. Lidström is also the all-time leader in games played with a single NHL team by a European-born player. Lidström was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on 9 November 2015. In 2017, Lidström was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.
context_section_description: On 31 May 2012, Lidström announced his retirement from the NHL via a press conference with Red Wings Owner Mike Ilitch and General Manager Ken Holland present. The night before, he told the Swedish tabloid Expressen, "I came to the decision last week and I informed our general manager, Ken Holland." Discussing Lidström's retirement, former teammate Steve Yzerman described Lidström as "one of the all-time best defencemen to ever play." Former teammate and fellow Norris Trophy winning defenseman Paul Coffey said, "He was an incredible player" while Chris Chelios said, "There's been guys who are great players, but no one's better than Nick. As good? Yes. But this is as big as it gets. He's one of the best athletes ever and...if you're going to talk about someone who's perfect, Nick's pretty darn close to being perfect." Washington Capitals defenceman John Carlson described Lidström as "one of the game's all-time greats on and off the ice." Ken Holland stated his belief that Lidström was "the most valuable player of his era."
  The following weekend, on 3 June 2012, Lidström and his wife took out a full-page ad giving thanks to the city of Detroit for making his family feel at home for the past 21 years. On 8 July 2012, Lidström was named a scout for the Red Wings.
  On 28 February 2014, Lidström was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.
  During the 2013–14 season, Lidström had his number 5 jersey retired by the Red Wings. Initially, ceremonies were planned for the previous season, on 5 February 2013 — however, the lockout had made it hard to determine when Lidström would be able to attend the ceremony. The Red Wings officially retired his number on 6 March 2014, in a pre-game ceremony at Joe Louis Arena.
caption: Lidström's #5 banner hanging at Joe Louis Arena.
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