What have you done 1,500 times?
Saturday’s milestone will be just the latest in a 20-season career of great accomplishments, which includes four Stanley Cup championship rings, seven Norris Trophies, and a street named for him in suburban Detroit. And already the oldest defenseman to record 60 points in a season – a feat that he established last year – Lidstrom continues to deny Mother Nature.
“I really don’t know if you can put it in words,” defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “Really, 1,500 games, that’s one impressive number. Not only that, but the way he’s played those 1,500 games. I mean, he’s basically been one of the best players on the ice every night.”
Lidstrom will join Steve Yzerman (1,514) and Alex Delvecchio (1,549) as the only players to reach 1,500 games during a career with a single NHL club. That statistic alone is staggering considering that he’s amassed that total in far fewer seasons than his fellow Wings’ legends.
However, as impressive as 1,500 games is, Lidstrom’s average minutes each night might mean even more. For the last 11 seasons, he has led the Wings in most ice-time per game. And already this season, he is playing more than 24-minutes per game.
“He plays lot of minutes,” said Tomas Holmstrom, who has played in 956 games. “I don’t know, he must average 26-28 minutes. That’s half the game every night for 1,500 games. That’s pretty impressive.”
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