WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.120 Hey there. Have you ever had a co -worker who 00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:07.540 is just so relentlessly good at their job, so 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:10.179 effortlessly consistent that it almost drives 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:12.500 you a little crazy? Oh, yeah. We all know the 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:14.560 type. Right. Like they never miss a deadline. 00:00:14.740 --> 00:00:16.820 They never seem stressed out. They just make 00:00:16.820 --> 00:00:18.839 whatever they're doing look entirely too easy. 00:00:18.899 --> 00:00:22.269 Right. It's infuriating. but in a good way yeah 00:00:22.269 --> 00:00:24.870 exactly yeah now i want you to imagine that person 00:00:24.870 --> 00:00:28.269 doing their job while wearing ice skates dodging 00:00:28.269 --> 00:00:31.410 frozen rubber pucks flying at their head and 00:00:31.410 --> 00:00:34.390 uh getting slammed into hard fiberglass boards 00:00:34.390 --> 00:00:38.210 at 20 miles per hour by enormous aggressive opponents. 00:00:38.490 --> 00:00:40.469 I mean, that definitely changes the dynamic of 00:00:40.469 --> 00:00:42.429 the perfect employee just a little bit, doesn't 00:00:42.429 --> 00:00:44.070 it? Just a little. Because when the daily grind 00:00:44.070 --> 00:00:46.350 involves the constant threat of physical destruction, 00:00:46.630 --> 00:00:49.729 maintaining that calm, flawless consistency becomes 00:00:49.729 --> 00:00:52.829 something else entirely. Becomes legendary. Welcome 00:00:52.829 --> 00:00:55.509 to the Deep Dive. Glad to be here. Today, we're 00:00:55.509 --> 00:00:58.649 answering a fascinating question based on a comprehensive 00:00:58.649 --> 00:01:00.750 Wikipedia article we've been looking through. 00:01:01.620 --> 00:01:03.539 And actually, as we were prepping for this, I 00:01:03.539 --> 00:01:05.980 was thinking about how we would pitch this. Like 00:01:05.980 --> 00:01:08.079 if we had to write an Apple podcast title and 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:11.060 description to summarize this deep dive, it would 00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:14.180 have to be something punchy, like the perfect 00:01:14.180 --> 00:01:17.120 human decoding NHL legend, Nicholas Lidstrom. 00:01:17.239 --> 00:01:19.040 Oh, that's good. And the description would definitely 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:21.739 need to hit all those major SEO keywords, right? 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:23.739 Exactly. It would say something like, how does 00:01:23.739 --> 00:01:26.719 an athlete earn the nickname, the perfect human? 00:01:27.630 --> 00:01:30.370 In this deep dive, we explore the jaw -dropping 00:01:30.370 --> 00:01:33.469 career of Detroit Red Wings legend and ice hockey 00:01:33.469 --> 00:01:36.129 defenseman Nicholas Lidstrom. Which is exactly 00:01:36.129 --> 00:01:38.250 what we're doing. Right. We pack the description 00:01:38.250 --> 00:01:40.969 with his stats. From winning four Stanley Cup 00:01:40.969 --> 00:01:43.569 championships and seven Norris trophies to setting 00:01:43.569 --> 00:01:45.870 the NHL history record for the most games played 00:01:45.870 --> 00:01:48.810 with a single team. We're unpacking his unmatched 00:01:48.810 --> 00:01:51.049 durability, his induction into the exclusive 00:01:51.049 --> 00:01:53.969 triple gold club, and the unbelievable toughness 00:01:53.969 --> 00:01:56.230 that kept him on the ice through unimaginable 00:01:56.230 --> 00:01:58.920 injuries. And honestly, whether you're a diehard 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:01.760 hockey fan or just love a masterclass in consistency 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.340 and leadership, this deep dive will show you 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:06.760 exactly what it takes to be perfect. That would 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:09.300 be the exact pitch. Because perfection in this 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:11.719 context isn't just about talent. It's about an 00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:14.879 incredibly rare psychological and physical endurance. 00:02:15.139 --> 00:02:17.500 Yeah, it really is. So, okay, let's unpack this. 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:20.099 Let me just lay out the baseline stats for you 00:02:20.099 --> 00:02:22.379 from the historical record because they are absolutely 00:02:22.379 --> 00:02:25.560 staggering. Go for it. Four Stanley Cup championships. 00:02:26.459 --> 00:02:29.460 Seven Norris trophies, which is the award given 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:32.460 to the NHL's top defenseman, and an NHL record 00:02:32.460 --> 00:02:35.719 that absolutely blows my mind. He never missed 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:38.039 the playoffs in his entire 20 -season career. 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:41.000 Not once. The Detroit Red Wings never missed 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.539 the postseason while he was on the roster. That 00:02:43.539 --> 00:02:45.419 is the longest streak of playoff appearances 00:02:45.419 --> 00:02:48.259 for a player in league history. To set the analytical 00:02:48.259 --> 00:02:50.219 tone here, you really have to understand the 00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:52.939 context of the sport during the era when he played. 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:57.210 Right. The 90s and early 2000s. Exactly. Ice 00:02:57.210 --> 00:03:00.199 hockey back then was defined by chaos. It was 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:03.240 known as the dead puck era. It was defined by 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:06.740 physical breakdown, massive open ice hits, clutching, 00:03:06.740 --> 00:03:09.120 grabbing, and sheer exhaustion. It's a brutal 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:12.199 time to play. Extremely brutal. Players routinely 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:14.780 saw their careers shortened by major injuries. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:17.860 Teams go through cycles of rebuilding. Dynasties 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:20.780 rise and inevitably fall apart. But in a sport 00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:22.740 where the environment is constantly trying to 00:03:22.740 --> 00:03:24.960 physically and organizationally break you down, 00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:29.020 Lidstrom's true legacy is his absolute statistical 00:03:29.229 --> 00:03:31.889 anomaly of consistency. He didn't just survive 00:03:31.889 --> 00:03:34.830 that chaotic era. He controlled it. He completely 00:03:34.830 --> 00:03:37.210 controlled it, largely by playing a game based 00:03:37.210 --> 00:03:39.310 on supreme intelligence and positioning rather 00:03:39.310 --> 00:03:41.550 than brute force. Let's dive deeper into that 00:03:41.550 --> 00:03:44.389 consistency, specifically his durability, because 00:03:44.389 --> 00:03:46.389 the Ironman stats associated with his career 00:03:46.389 --> 00:03:48.669 are almost hard to comprehend. They really are. 00:03:48.889 --> 00:03:51.590 Over a 20 -year NHL career, a player could theoretically 00:03:51.590 --> 00:03:56.129 dress for 1 ,440 regular season team games. Looking 00:03:56.129 --> 00:03:58.650 at the data, the number of games Lidstrom actually 00:03:58.650 --> 00:04:01.069 missed is so low it looks like a typo. You'd 00:04:01.069 --> 00:04:04.189 think the printer broke. Exactly. 28. He missed 00:04:04.189 --> 00:04:07.270 only 28 games in two decades. That's just wild. 00:04:07.530 --> 00:04:10.270 And to add even more weight to that number, one 00:04:10.270 --> 00:04:12.069 of those missed games wasn't even because he 00:04:12.069 --> 00:04:14.550 was hurt. Right. It was a suspension. Yeah. A 00:04:14.550 --> 00:04:17.589 one -game suspension. He chose to set out an 00:04:17.589 --> 00:04:19.970 All -Star game to rest some tendinitis in his 00:04:19.970 --> 00:04:23.430 arm, and league policy dictated a mandatory one 00:04:23.430 --> 00:04:25.610 -game suspension for missing the All -Star game 00:04:25.610 --> 00:04:28.970 without a devastating injury. So really, he missed 00:04:28.970 --> 00:04:32.930 27 games due to actual physical inability to 00:04:32.930 --> 00:04:36.649 play over 20 years. Let's use an analogy to put 00:04:36.649 --> 00:04:38.810 that in perspective for you. Imagine working 00:04:38.810 --> 00:04:42.370 a grueling, physically demanding job for 20 years. 00:04:42.730 --> 00:04:45.550 You are doing intense physical labor every single 00:04:45.550 --> 00:04:48.009 day, traveling constantly across time zones, 00:04:48.230 --> 00:04:50.629 sleeping in hotels. So it's exhausting. Right. 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:52.970 And over those 20 years, you take fewer than 00:04:52.970 --> 00:04:56.490 36 days total. It's unheard of. What's fascinating 00:04:56.490 --> 00:04:59.230 here is the extreme rarity of this kind of longevity, 00:04:59.589 --> 00:05:01.790 especially doing it all with a single franchise. 00:05:02.170 --> 00:05:04.569 Yeah. And we have to clarify how he was being 00:05:04.569 --> 00:05:07.490 utilized on the ice, too. In hockey, players 00:05:07.490 --> 00:05:10.350 take shifts. A typical player might be coasting 00:05:10.350 --> 00:05:13.170 on the third line, playing maybe 10 to 12 minutes 00:05:13.170 --> 00:05:15.529 a game to give the Stars a rest. But Lidstrom 00:05:15.529 --> 00:05:18.689 wasn't doing that. Not at all. He was consistently 00:05:18.689 --> 00:05:21.550 ranking among the very top players in the NHL 00:05:21.550 --> 00:05:25.149 in total ice time. During the 2009 -2006 season, 00:05:25.269 --> 00:05:29.589 he averaged a career -high 28 minutes and 7 seconds 00:05:29.589 --> 00:05:32.120 of ice time per game. playing nearly half the 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:35.519 game every single game against the absolute best 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:38.220 most dangerous offensive players the opposing 00:05:38.220 --> 00:05:40.920 team had to offer and doing it all in detroit 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:45.259 right he played his entire career 1 ,564 regular 00:05:45.259 --> 00:05:48.139 season games with one team, the Detroit Red Wings. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:50.459 When you dig into the history of that franchise, 00:05:50.779 --> 00:05:53.740 he joins only two other players, Alex Stovecchio 00:05:53.740 --> 00:05:56.500 and Steve Weisserman, to play over 1 ,500 games 00:05:56.500 --> 00:05:59.160 exclusively for Detroit. It's a level of mutual 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:01.199 commitment and physical endurance that you just 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:03.839 rarely see in modern professional sports. Absolutely. 00:06:04.100 --> 00:06:06.959 And during all those thousands of minutes on 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:09.279 the ice, he was dominating the defensive side 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:12.120 of the puck. I mentioned the seven James Norris 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:14.360 Memorial Trophies earlier. Let's really emphasize 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:17.300 the magnitude of that achievement. Tending the 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:19.279 Norris Trophy means a panel of hockey writers 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:23.139 voted you the undisputed best defenseman in the 00:06:23.139 --> 00:06:25.579 world for that season. Winning seven of them 00:06:25.579 --> 00:06:28.040 means you defined an entire generation of the 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:30.199 sport. To give that some historical context, 00:06:30.420 --> 00:06:33.019 only one other player in NHL history has tied 00:06:33.019 --> 00:06:35.300 that number of seven Norris Trophies, and that's 00:06:35.300 --> 00:06:37.959 Doug Harvey, who played mostly in the 50s. Wow. 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:40.779 Yeah. Only the legendary Bobby Orr has more, 00:06:40.920 --> 00:06:43.939 with eight. Lindstrom won three of those consecutively 00:06:43.939 --> 00:06:46.720 from 2001 to 2003. He was actually the first 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:49.120 defenseman since Bobby Orr to win three straight. 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:51.480 That's insane company to keep. He then won it 00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:55.139 again in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2011. When you 00:06:55.139 --> 00:06:57.300 are sharing record book space exclusively with 00:06:57.300 --> 00:06:59.699 Bobby Orr and Doug Harvey, you are occupying 00:06:59.699 --> 00:07:02.560 the rarest air possible in hockey history. He 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:05.000 was nominated for the award a total of 12 times 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:08.360 in his last 14 seasons. The voting records show 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:10.939 he finished no lower than sixth place in Norris, 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:13.959 voting in his final 16 seasons. Just relentless, 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:17.240 suffocating excellence. But his impact wasn't 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:19.240 just about his individual stats or his ability 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:21.759 to read plays before they happened. It was about 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:25.160 how he led his team. which brings us to a major 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:27.660 transition in his career and the history of the 00:07:27.660 --> 00:07:30.920 Detroit Red Wings. The captaincy. Yes. For a 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:33.399 long time, the team was captained by Steve Wiseman, 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:35.819 who was an absolute legend in his own right, 00:07:35.899 --> 00:07:38.720 known as the captain in Detroit. But when Wiseman 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:42.120 retired, the team needed a new leader. So in 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:45.500 2006, Lindstrom was given the C for his jersey. 00:07:45.699 --> 00:07:48.220 That was a historic paradigm shifting moment, 00:07:48.259 --> 00:07:50.120 not just for him, but for the franchise and the 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:52.379 league as a whole. By taking that role, he became 00:07:52.379 --> 00:07:54.480 the first European captain in the franchise's 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:56.860 history. Which was a big deal back then. A massive 00:07:56.860 --> 00:07:58.759 deal. We have to remember, for a long time in 00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:01.399 North American hockey, there was an unfair bias 00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:04.459 against European players. The old stereotype 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:06.660 was that they were highly skilled, but perhaps 00:08:06.660 --> 00:08:09.600 lack the grit or leadership qualities of Canadian 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:12.740 or American players. Lidstrom shattering that 00:08:12.740 --> 00:08:14.860 ceiling was massive. He didn't just wear the 00:08:14.860 --> 00:08:17.079 letter. He made history with it. He really did. 00:08:17.300 --> 00:08:20.959 During the 2007 to 2008 season, the Red Wings 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:23.220 entered the playoffs as the President's Trophy 00:08:23.220 --> 00:08:26.040 winners. For those unfamiliar, the President's 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:28.259 Trophy is awarded to the team with the most points 00:08:28.259 --> 00:08:30.579 during the regular season. Meaning you were the 00:08:30.579 --> 00:08:33.200 best team all year. Exactly. which also puts 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:35.379 a massive target on your back going into the 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:38.100 playoffs. But Lidstrom guided them through it. 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:40.620 They met the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2008 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:43.320 Stanley Cup Finals. After the Penguins forced 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:46.100 a Game 6, Lidstrom and the Red Wings defeated 00:08:46.100 --> 00:08:48.580 Pittsburgh to capture the Stanley Cup. And with 00:08:48.580 --> 00:08:51.259 that victory, Lidstrom became the very first 00:08:51.259 --> 00:08:53.980 European -born and trained captain to ever win 00:08:53.980 --> 00:08:56.379 the Stanley Cup. It's a testament to how universal 00:08:56.379 --> 00:08:59.149 his leadership style was. Yeah, the historical 00:08:59.149 --> 00:09:01.970 notes point out that previously a couple of European 00:09:01.970 --> 00:09:04.809 -born players had captained cup -winning teams 00:09:04.809 --> 00:09:07.929 back in the 30s. Charlie Gardner from Scotland 00:09:07.929 --> 00:09:11.330 and Johnny Gotslug from Russia. But they moved 00:09:11.330 --> 00:09:13.710 to North America at a young age and were trained 00:09:13.710 --> 00:09:17.129 in the Canadian system. Ah, gotcha. Right. Lidstrom 00:09:17.129 --> 00:09:19.830 was the first to be both born and developed entirely 00:09:19.830 --> 00:09:22.490 in Europe, which paved the way for a whole new 00:09:22.490 --> 00:09:25.769 era of international leadership in the NHL. Speaking 00:09:25.769 --> 00:09:27.610 of his character and leadership, there's... a 00:09:27.610 --> 00:09:30.190 fascinating detail about his financial loyalty 00:09:30.190 --> 00:09:33.350 that perfectly illustrates who he was as a person. 00:09:34.110 --> 00:09:36.850 We need to set the scene by going back to the 00:09:36.850 --> 00:09:40.470 NHL lockout that canceled the entire 2004 to 00:09:40.470 --> 00:09:43.870 2005 season. The lost season. Yeah. Coming out 00:09:43.870 --> 00:09:46.409 of that lockout, the league instituted a new 00:09:46.409 --> 00:09:48.490 collective bargaining agreement with a hard salary 00:09:48.490 --> 00:09:51.429 cap. As part of that agreement, salaries on all 00:09:51.429 --> 00:09:53.950 pre -existing contracts were slashed by 24 % 00:09:53.950 --> 00:09:56.230 across the board. Just an automatic cut. Right. 00:09:56.289 --> 00:09:58.409 So Listrom, who was originally set to make $10 00:09:58.409 --> 00:10:01.929 million for the 2005 to 2006 season, saw his 00:10:01.929 --> 00:10:05.509 pay automatically drop to $7 .6 million. Which 00:10:05.509 --> 00:10:07.370 is obviously still a massive amount of money. 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:11.220 But psychologically, taking a sudden $2 .4 million 00:10:11.220 --> 00:10:13.539 pay cut from what you had originally negotiated 00:10:13.539 --> 00:10:17.039 or promised is a bitter pill for any professional 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:19.779 to swallow. Exactly. So fast forward to the summer 00:10:19.779 --> 00:10:24.029 of 2006. His contract is up. He is the undisputed 00:10:24.029 --> 00:10:26.190 best defenseman in the league. He just won another 00:10:26.190 --> 00:10:28.470 Norris trophy. He had all the leverage. All of 00:10:28.470 --> 00:10:30.750 it. He could have tested the free agent market 00:10:30.750 --> 00:10:33.649 and commanded an absolute fortune from any team 00:10:33.649 --> 00:10:36.529 desperate for a superstar. He easily could have 00:10:36.529 --> 00:10:39.230 demanded that $10 million back from Detroit or 00:10:39.230 --> 00:10:42.220 threatened to walk. But he didn't. Instead, on 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:47.159 June 30, 2006, he signs a two -year, $15 .2 million 00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:49.820 extension with the Red Wings. If you do the math 00:10:49.820 --> 00:10:52.779 on that, it's exactly $7 .6 million a year. He 00:10:52.779 --> 00:10:55.100 chose to stay in Detroit for the exact same annual 00:10:55.100 --> 00:10:57.879 salary he made the year prior, completely accepting 00:10:57.879 --> 00:10:59.799 the post -lockout reduction without a fight. 00:11:00.019 --> 00:11:02.600 Not only did he not ask for a raise, he effectively 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:05.179 gave the franchise a hometown discount. If we 00:11:05.179 --> 00:11:08.039 connect this to the bigger picture, it's fascinating 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:10.460 to look at Lidstrom's career as a psychological 00:11:10.460 --> 00:11:13.879 blueprint. We live in an era where athletes and 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:16.000 honestly professionals in almost any corporate 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.519 field are constantly team hopping, maximizing 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:22.720 personal profit at every turn. Constantly leveraging 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:25.379 their position for the next big payday. Exactly. 00:11:25.820 --> 00:11:28.679 Lidstrom's choice flips the script. It makes 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:30.799 you wonder. how much more effective we could 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:34.399 be if we valued stability, environment, and team 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.820 culture as much as he did. He knew he had a great 00:11:37.820 --> 00:11:40.919 situation in Detroit, and he valued keeping the 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:43.539 team competitive under the new salary cap over 00:11:43.539 --> 00:11:46.039 squeezing every last cent out of the market. 00:11:46.299 --> 00:11:48.659 It really highlights why the city of Detroit 00:11:48.659 --> 00:11:50.639 loved him so much. He wasn't a hired mercenary. 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:53.620 He was foundational to the organization. Absolutely. 00:11:53.899 --> 00:11:55.399 Now, we've been calling him the perfect human, 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:57.720 which was his actual nickname in the locker room 00:11:57.720 --> 00:11:59.639 and around the league. But here's where it gets 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:01.779 really interesting. Oh yeah, the reality check. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:04.320 The perfect human wasn't immune to the brutality 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:07.080 of hockey. He didn't just glide around the ice 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:09.740 in a magical, untouchable bubble. He just refused 00:12:09.740 --> 00:12:12.059 to let the brutality stop him. This is a crucial 00:12:12.059 --> 00:12:15.539 distinction. Perfection in this context doesn't 00:12:15.539 --> 00:12:18.159 mean an absence of suffering or avoiding the 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:20.860 physical toll of the game. It means possessing 00:12:20.860 --> 00:12:23.740 an incredible capacity to endure it and execute 00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:27.090 your job anyway. The details of his career provide 00:12:27.090 --> 00:12:29.769 two shocking injuries that vividly illustrate 00:12:29.769 --> 00:12:33.490 this. First, as the Red Wings opened the 2008 00:12:33.490 --> 00:12:37.129 -2009 preseason, he took a slap shot to the face 00:12:37.129 --> 00:12:39.470 from Montreal Canadiens forward Chris Higgins. 00:12:39.649 --> 00:12:42.470 Ouch. The puck ricocheted and broke his nose. 00:12:42.970 --> 00:12:44.990 That was the moment he finally started wearing 00:12:44.990 --> 00:12:47.450 a protective clear visor on his helmet, having 00:12:47.450 --> 00:12:49.649 played without one for most of his career. Which 00:12:49.649 --> 00:12:52.070 was common back then, but still dangerous. Very. 00:12:52.190 --> 00:12:54.669 But the second injury. This is the one that really 00:12:54.669 --> 00:12:56.710 tests your stomach and proves his unbelievable 00:12:56.710 --> 00:12:59.210 toughness. It is quite literal, visceral proof 00:12:59.210 --> 00:13:02.110 of his pain tolerance. During the 2009 playoffs, 00:13:02.389 --> 00:13:04.509 specifically Game 3 of the Western Conference 00:13:04.509 --> 00:13:06.990 Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks, he was 00:13:06.990 --> 00:13:09.389 speared in the groin area by Blackhawks winger 00:13:09.389 --> 00:13:12.190 Patrick Sharp. This wasn't just a painful tap 00:13:12.190 --> 00:13:14.830 that winded him. It was a severe, catastrophic 00:13:14.830 --> 00:13:18.470 injury that required immediate surgery to remove 00:13:18.470 --> 00:13:21.519 a damaged testicle. Let the medical reality of 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:23.539 that sink in for a second. It's almost impossible 00:13:23.539 --> 00:13:26.200 to comprehend. Most people would be sidelined 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:28.500 for months just recovering from the physical 00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:30.860 trauma, not to mention the psychological shock 00:13:30.860 --> 00:13:33.100 of that kind of emergency surgery. But this is 00:13:33.100 --> 00:13:35.700 Nicholas Lidstrom. Looking at the injury data 00:13:35.700 --> 00:13:38.720 from that playoff run, the sheer resilience is 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:41.759 mind -boggling. After losing a testicle, he missed 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:44.580 exactly two games. Just two games of playoff 00:13:44.580 --> 00:13:46.320 hockey. He missed the last two games of that 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:48.639 series against Chicago, which the Red Wings managed 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:51.899 to win without him. And then, defying all medical 00:13:51.899 --> 00:13:54.240 logic, he returned to the ice in time to play 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:55.899 in the Stanley Cup final against the Pittsburgh 00:13:55.899 --> 00:13:58.179 Penguins. He was right back out there. Absorbing 00:13:58.179 --> 00:14:00.960 hits, blocking shots, and competing for a championship 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:03.879 in a grueling seven -game series. It completely 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:07.279 redefines what perfect means. The nickname might 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.980 imply to some people an easy, flawless glide 00:14:09.980 --> 00:14:12.379 through life like he'd never sweat, never bled, 00:14:12.379 --> 00:14:15.120 never hurt. But these events prove his perfection 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:17.759 was actually forged through incredible pain. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:20.820 It wasn't that things didn't affect him. It was 00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:23.320 that his commitment to his team and his craft 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:26.259 outweighed his physical suffering. It's not about 00:14:26.259 --> 00:14:28.580 being untouched by adversity. It's about how 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:31.340 quickly you get back up when you are quite literally 00:14:31.340 --> 00:14:34.100 knocked down and seriously hurt. Exactly. And 00:14:34.100 --> 00:14:36.980 what is perhaps most wild about his trajectory 00:14:36.980 --> 00:14:39.320 is that he didn't just survive these injuries 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:42.919 and quietly grind out his final declining years. 00:14:43.179 --> 00:14:46.399 He seemingly defied age altogether. He stayed 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:49.529 incredibly elite as he got older. Let me give 00:14:49.529 --> 00:14:51.330 you two milestones that prove this. Let's hear 00:14:51.330 --> 00:14:54.490 them. First, at age 40, an age where most hockey 00:14:54.490 --> 00:14:56.509 players have been comfortably retired for years, 00:14:56.710 --> 00:14:59.029 he recorded his first career hat trick against 00:14:59.029 --> 00:15:02.009 the St. Louis Blues. For context, a hat trick 00:15:02.009 --> 00:15:04.669 is scoring three goals in a single game, which 00:15:04.669 --> 00:15:07.029 is incredibly difficult for a defenseman to do 00:15:07.029 --> 00:15:09.289 even in their prime. By doing that, he became 00:15:09.289 --> 00:15:11.730 the oldest player in NHL history to record a 00:15:11.730 --> 00:15:14.169 first hat trick. The previous record was held 00:15:14.169 --> 00:15:16.509 by Scott Mellenby at age 36. Wow, that's a big 00:15:16.509 --> 00:15:19.059 jump. Furthermore, Lidstrom became the oldest 00:15:19.059 --> 00:15:22.080 defenseman in NHL history to ever record a hat 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:25.500 trick, period. The previous record for a defenseman 00:15:25.500 --> 00:15:28.960 was held by Mathieu Schneider at 37. Lidstrom 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:32.299 did it at 40 years and 210 days old. That's incredible. 00:15:32.539 --> 00:15:34.340 And his quote to the press after the game was 00:15:34.340 --> 00:15:36.840 just so perfectly him. He was asked how it felt 00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:38.980 and he just smiled and said, it feels great. 00:15:39.059 --> 00:15:41.039 I've never in my life been able to notch three 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:43.700 goals in a game. Such a humble, grounded response 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:47.019 to making NHL history. And then. The very next 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:50.759 year, at age 41, he won his seventh and final 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:54.379 Norris Trophy. He remains the oldest Norris Trophy 00:15:54.379 --> 00:15:57.059 winner in history, winning it at 41 years and 00:15:57.059 --> 00:16:00.139 57 days old. And there's a fascinating statistical 00:16:00.139 --> 00:16:02.820 quirk about that final Norris season. He actually 00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:04.779 finished that season with a negative plus minus 00:16:04.779 --> 00:16:07.179 rating for the first time in his career. To clarify 00:16:07.179 --> 00:16:09.820 for those who don't follow hockey stats, plus 00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:12.059 minus is a metric that tracks goal differential. 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:15.440 If you are on the ice when your team scores an 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:18.679 even strength goal, you get a plus. If you are 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:21.000 on the ice when the opposing team scores, you 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:23.440 get a minus. Finishing with a negative rating 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:25.960 means he was on the ice for more goals against 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:28.669 his team than for his team. Which is usually 00:16:28.669 --> 00:16:31.049 an absolute deal breaker for a defenseman trying 00:16:31.049 --> 00:16:33.370 to win the Norris trophy. It usually disqualifies 00:16:33.370 --> 00:16:35.789 you in the eyes of the voters. But Lidstrom's 00:16:35.789 --> 00:16:39.269 overall play, his advanced metrics and his puck 00:16:39.269 --> 00:16:42.529 possession were still so undeniably brilliant 00:16:42.529 --> 00:16:44.990 that the writers voted him the best defenseman 00:16:44.990 --> 00:16:47.389 in the league anyway. His intelligence on the 00:16:47.389 --> 00:16:49.570 end is completely compensated for whatever half 00:16:49.570 --> 00:16:51.809 step of physical speed he might have lost to 00:16:51.809 --> 00:16:54.519 age. He just thought the game faster than the 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:56.960 22 -year -olds he was playing against. He anticipated 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:58.899 where the puck was going to be rather than chasing 00:16:58.899 --> 00:17:01.820 where it was. And that brilliance certainly wasn't 00:17:01.820 --> 00:17:04.900 limited to the NHL. We have to highlight his 00:17:04.900 --> 00:17:06.839 international achievements for his home country 00:17:06.839 --> 00:17:09.380 of Sweden because Lidström is a member of the 00:17:09.380 --> 00:17:12.099 extremely exclusive Triple Gold Club. For those 00:17:12.099 --> 00:17:14.019 unfamiliar with international hockey prestige, 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:17.039 the Triple Gold Club is essentially the holy 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:20.809 grail of the sport. To gain entry, A player must 00:17:20.809 --> 00:17:23.490 win a world championship gold medal, an Olympic 00:17:23.490 --> 00:17:26.690 gold medal, and a Stanley Cup. It requires absolute 00:17:26.690 --> 00:17:29.009 dominance on both the grueling North American 00:17:29.009 --> 00:17:32.069 professional stage and the global international 00:17:32.069 --> 00:17:34.950 stage. And Lidstrom wasn't just a passenger on 00:17:34.950 --> 00:17:37.190 those championship teams. He was the driving 00:17:37.190 --> 00:17:39.849 force. He won a world championship with Sweden 00:17:39.849 --> 00:17:42.869 back in 1991. We already discussed his four Stanley 00:17:42.869 --> 00:17:46.289 Cups in Detroit. But he was in the 2006 Winter 00:17:46.289 --> 00:17:48.900 Olympics in Turin, Italy. where he sealed his 00:17:48.900 --> 00:17:51.359 entry into the club in the most dramatic, cinematic 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:53.640 way possible. Setting the stage for a legend. 00:17:53.779 --> 00:17:56.000 In the gold medal game against their fierce geographic 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:59.119 rivals, Finland, the game was tied in the third 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:02.160 period. Off a faceoff, the puck came back to 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.480 Listerm at the point, and he fired a blistering 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:06.740 shot into the top corner of the net. Incredible. 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:09.140 He scored the game -winning gold medal -clenching 00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:11.640 goal. He was the decisive factor on the biggest 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:14.130 international stage. Which really cemented his 00:18:14.130 --> 00:18:17.029 legacy not just as a Detroit sports icon, but 00:18:17.029 --> 00:18:19.670 as a Swedish national hero. He was named to the 00:18:19.670 --> 00:18:21.990 Olympic all -star team that year, and he even 00:18:21.990 --> 00:18:24.210 served as the team captain for Sweden four years 00:18:24.210 --> 00:18:26.569 later in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. 00:18:26.890 --> 00:18:29.349 The respect he commanded globally was unmatched. 00:18:29.490 --> 00:18:32.490 In fact, the prestigious publication The Hockey 00:18:32.490 --> 00:18:36.250 News selected Lidstrom as the best European -trained 00:18:36.250 --> 00:18:39.539 player ever in the NHL. The respect he garnered 00:18:39.539 --> 00:18:42.460 from his peers across his entire career is overwhelming. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:45.660 When he finally announced his retirement in May 00:18:45.660 --> 00:18:48.559 2012, after setting the all -time record for 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:50.880 NHL games played by a player born in Europe, 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:53.200 the quotes that poured in from the hockey world 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:55.539 say it all. Yeah, his former teammate and captain 00:18:55.539 --> 00:18:57.920 Steve Wiserman described him as one of the all 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:01.160 -time best defensemen to ever play. Hall of Fame 00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:03.599 defenseman Paul Coffey marveled at his incredible 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:06.339 play. Red Wings general manager Ken Holland went 00:19:06.339 --> 00:19:08.400 on record stating his belief that Lidstrom was 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:10.819 the most valuable player of his era. To call 00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:13.680 a defenseman the most valuable player of an entire 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:16.519 era of hockey, an era that included offensive 00:19:16.519 --> 00:19:19.200 superstars like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:22.119 and Jaramere Jag, shows just how foundational 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:25.240 he was to Detroit's success. The quote that really 00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:27.500 sums it up, though, comes from Chris Chilios, 00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:30.559 another legendary Hall of Fame defenseman who 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:32.980 played alongside Lidstrom in Detroit. What did 00:19:32.980 --> 00:19:35.500 he say? He said, there's been guys who are great 00:19:35.500 --> 00:19:39.180 players, but no one's better than Nick. As good? 00:19:39.339 --> 00:19:43.400 Yes. But this is as big as it gets. He's one 00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:45.039 of the best athletes ever, and if you're going 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:47.579 to talk about someone who's perfect, Nick's pretty 00:19:47.579 --> 00:19:49.839 darn close to being perfect. It is the ultimate 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:52.980 peer -reviewed validation of the nickname. Which 00:19:52.980 --> 00:19:55.039 brings us to the end of his incredible playing 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:58.119 journey. To cap it all off, the weekend after 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:00.559 he officially retired, Listrom and his wife, 00:20:00.660 --> 00:20:03.490 Annika, did something incredibly classy. They 00:20:03.490 --> 00:20:05.569 took out a full -page ad in a Detroit newspaper 00:20:05.569 --> 00:20:08.210 just to say thank you. That's amazing. They thank 00:20:08.210 --> 00:20:10.869 the fans and the city of Detroit for making their 00:20:10.869 --> 00:20:14.029 family feel at home for the past 21 years. Talk 00:20:14.029 --> 00:20:16.190 about a master class in humility on the way out 00:20:16.190 --> 00:20:18.789 the door. The team later retired his number five 00:20:18.789 --> 00:20:21.789 jersey in a massive pregame ceremony, ensuring 00:20:21.789 --> 00:20:24.349 no Red Wing will ever wear it again. It perfectly 00:20:24.349 --> 00:20:27.190 encapsulates the quiet dignity that ran parallel 00:20:27.190 --> 00:20:30.049 to his greatness from day one. So what does this 00:20:30.049 --> 00:20:32.490 all mean? We talked about the stats, the trophies, 00:20:32.490 --> 00:20:34.910 the unimaginable injuries, the leadership and 00:20:34.910 --> 00:20:37.910 the financial loyalty. What is the core takeaway 00:20:37.910 --> 00:20:41.849 from the life of the perfect human? As an observation 00:20:41.849 --> 00:20:44.309 for you listening to this, I think it's that 00:20:44.309 --> 00:20:46.390 you don't have to be a professional athlete to 00:20:46.390 --> 00:20:48.809 marvel at and apply the psychology behind his 00:20:48.809 --> 00:20:51.509 career. Consistency, the act of showing up every 00:20:51.509 --> 00:20:53.630 single day and executing your craft at a high 00:20:53.630 --> 00:20:55.750 level without complaint is a genuine superpower. 00:20:56.210 --> 00:20:58.359 Truly. Valuing your environment, your stability, 00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:00.319 and your team's culture over the next immediate 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:02.579 payday can build a legacy that outlasts your 00:21:02.579 --> 00:21:05.859 working years. In quiet resilience, the ability 00:21:05.859 --> 00:21:08.359 to endure adversity and keep moving forward is 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:10.960 what separates the very good from the truly legendary. 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:13.940 It's an incredible blueprint for approaching 00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:18.440 your craft. Show up, execute, value your people, 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:21.180 and push through the hard days. But this raises 00:21:21.180 --> 00:21:22.940 an important question, and it's something I want 00:21:22.940 --> 00:21:25.470 to leave you with to mull over. Our research 00:21:25.470 --> 00:21:28.069 notes that Ligström and his wife have four sons, 00:21:28.369 --> 00:21:33.470 Kevin, born in 1994, Adam, born in 1996, Samuel, 00:21:33.690 --> 00:21:38.029 born in 2000, and Lucas, born in 2003. And as 00:21:38.029 --> 00:21:40.250 they grow up, all four of them went on to play 00:21:40.250 --> 00:21:43.009 high -level competitive hockey in Sweden. Wow. 00:21:43.250 --> 00:21:45.369 Think about the expectations there. Exactly. 00:21:45.369 --> 00:21:47.390 It fills you with a sense of wonder just thinking 00:21:47.390 --> 00:21:49.549 about it. Imagine stepping onto the ice with 00:21:49.549 --> 00:21:51.789 the last name Lidstrom stitched on the back of 00:21:51.789 --> 00:21:54.529 your jersey. No pressure. Right. How do you go 00:21:54.529 --> 00:21:57.250 about carving out your own unique identity? How 00:21:57.250 --> 00:21:58.869 do you handle the pressure when the standard 00:21:58.869 --> 00:22:00.829 set right in your own living room, the ghost 00:22:00.829 --> 00:22:03.549 you are inevitably chasing on the ice, is universally 00:22:03.549 --> 00:22:06.210 known by the world as the perfect human? It is 00:22:06.210 --> 00:22:08.509 a fascinating psychological puzzle to think about 00:22:08.509 --> 00:22:10.089 the next time you feel the weight of expectations 00:22:10.089 --> 00:22:12.890 in your own life. That is an incredible thought 00:22:12.890 --> 00:22:15.230 to leave on. Trying to find your own path when 00:22:15.230 --> 00:22:18.069 perfection is the family business. Well, that 00:22:18.069 --> 00:22:20.130 is all for today's deep dive into the legendary 00:22:20.130 --> 00:22:22.109 Nicholas Lidstrom. We'll catch you next time.