Detroit Red Wings to move on minus Nicklas Lidstrom -NHL Update
Losing a top-level player that they have always depended on has definitely been tough on the Detroit Red Wings after Nicklas Lidstrom announced his retirement from the National Hockey League (NHL) on Thursday, May 31, 2012, but life goes on and so will Hockey Town.
Red Wings’ general manager, Ken Holland, is believed to have gotten the news a week prior to the official announcement but did not take it that seriously, allowing the captain to take some time and go over his thoughts. But they did not change.
"It's hard to talk contingency plans when you're talking Nick Lidstrom," Holland said. "He's just so great. We've had a lot of great players here, but he's one of the two or three special ones at a position of defence that really controls the game. We've had a lot of real good defensemen or great defensemen here for a long time, and he's been the greatest of them all. So there aren't any contingency plans."
One of the biggest issues that Detroit will have to face minus Lidstrom is the process of getting another player to take over the now vacant position. The decision is tough because there are so many capable faces. From Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Pavel Datsyuk, all have great potential, but only one can lead.
Lidstrom was their man that got Detroit Red Wings the wins along with making them end as one of the top teams in the Western Conference every season. Looking towards someone else for the answer will be difficult to adjust to but the Red Wings will have to get it done somehow.
GM Holland will also have $20 million of freed up salary-cap space, which will likely go towards bring in one, if not more, more than capable defenseman to fill that gap as well.
"We're going to get somebody," Holland said. "I mean, we're going to sign somebody.”
It will be interesting to see how Detroit’s offseason plans unfold and what they do in order to cover up the gap left by Nicklas Lidstrom in the upcoming weeks to make this team Stanley Cup winners once again.
Tags: