What’s Eating Nick Lidstrom?

For a guy that has won six Norris trophies, been an All Star 10 times and hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup four times, it’s tough to understand what might be causing the “perfect human” to be struggling this season. Ask 20 fans and you’ll get 20 different opinions about why Lidstrom has failed to live up to the lofty expectations he has set for himself throughout his career. Some will say he’s just adjusting his game. Others will tell you it’s because he’s too old. No matter what doctrine you subscribe too, it is painfully obvious that this isn’t the same Lidstrom we are used to seeing take the ice for the Red Wings.

Statistically, Lidstrom is a mixed bag this year. In 24 games, Nick has amassed a staggering 1 goal and 7 assists, making him the 293rd ranked scorer in the league. However, he’s still sporting a respectable +5 rating (good enough for 84th in the league) and was just ranked as one of the top 10 “defensive defensemen” today by Behind the Net’s statistics that were featured in James Mirtle’s column yesterday. So obviously he’s not playing THAT bad, but the question that everyone is really trying to wrap their heads around is “How bas IS he playing?”

The use of the word “bad” is rather arbitrary here. You and I may have separate ideas of what entails a “bad” effort or season, so let’s step away from that description and go with something different: Where is Lidstrom struggling at?

The obvious answer is to say “scoring”, but I challenge you to think outside the box a bit. Sure, the lack of scoring may be a confidence killer for the Swede (as Goerge Malik suggests over at Snapshots), but he is struggling defensively too. I’m sure alot of you are now saying to yourselves “Wait, didn’t he just cite a statistic about Lidstrom being in the top 10 of defensive defensemen?”. Yes, I did. But I’m also saying that Lidstrom has not been the defensive stalwart that folks have come to expect and he’s not going to get back there doing the things he is doing right now.

At the beginning of the season, I sat in on a roundtable discussion covering all things Wings, with one of the topics obviously being about Nick Lidstrom’s role moving forward. Here’s what I said at the time:

I think it’s less about Lidstrom returning to perfection as it is him being the captain of the defense and playing with an intensity that sets an example for the rest of the blue-liners. Defensive intensity is going to be critical this year, as the Wings probably won’t be as offensively explosive as last season. Lidstrom needs to set the tone with his play, and hope that the rest of the defense picks up the pace and locks down on opposing teams, especially on the penalty kill, a definite sore spot for the squad last year.

Sure, his age may be a factor in his production, but that is inevitable. I think we will see Nick continue to redefine the type of player he is, still defensively sound, but with an eye towards teaching the younger guys the finer points of being a smart, savvy blue-liner.

When it comes to Nick Lidstrom, nobody is expecting him to climb to the top of the Joe and start shouting words of encouragement to the city, fans or even teammates. Number 5 has always let his play do the talking and most of the time he doesn’t even need to open his mouth to say a thing. But this season is not like other seasons, and now Lidstrom’s leadership abilities need to shine. As the captain of a fragile team, Lidstrom is doing everything he can to keep his squad believing that they can bounce back from any of these setbacks and that they are still a Stanley Cup contender even though everyone is ready to write them off. And while spirits and morale are two very important issues for a captain to address, they don’t replace wins and losses and not even the cheeriest phrase from Lidstrom’s lips will make any difference in the “wins” column.

Here’s the problem: Nick’s trying to do too much. He’s not only trying to see the game from his own eyes, but he’s trying to do it for others too. Rather than settle back and watch his defensive partners make plays, he’s trying to make sure that everyone is making the perfect play at the right time. Whether it’s makign an extra pass instead of shooting on the power play, or cheating over to help a defenseman that may or may not be otu of positions, Lidstrom clearly looks like he’s just flat out trying too hard to make sure everyone is doing it all right.

No, the Nick Lidstrom that this team needs now more than ever is the one who doesn’t try to overcompensate for his teammates mistakes, preferring instead to buy into the system that he preaches to those same teammates on a regular basis. The point here is that Lidstrom needs to remember that his most powerful voice is his impressively refined all-around game and that no amount of words of over-compensation will ever match the volumes that his play speaks. Leave the motivational speeches and discussions about execution to Mike Babcock. Nick just needs to go out and play the game he is so great at and not worry about anything else.  He needs to showcase that puck awareness that he has been known for throughout the years by putting himself in the places to make plays and trusting that his teammates will be where they need to be because they have bought into the same system he has. Nick can’t do it all on the ice and the sooner he remembers that, the sooner the confidence will return to Number 5’s game, both offensively and defensively.

Tags: Nick Lidstrom