Detroit Red Wings: Nicklas Lidstrom Wins 7th Norris Trophy

Nicklas Lidstrom already made the Detroit Red Wings happy when he announced that he was returning for one more season, but adding another Norris Trophy is not a bad touch either.

In the 2009-10 season Lidstrom had 49 points. This is not a bad number considering his age. Lidstrom then had some proving to do the following season. In the 2010-11 season he recorded 62 points. At age 40 this is impressive. He tied his status in the 2006-07 season. Lidstrom was looking to age backwards.    

Not many players at age 41 can say that they can compete against 20-year-olds. He almost lost to Nashville's Shea Weber, but his status in history is secure. Weber was nine votes away from victory.Teammates of Lidstrom gave him a nickname. That nickname is Norris. It may be a joke, but that joke is meant for a reason: He keeps winning them.

The only person who has won more Norris Trophies than Lidstrom is Bobby Ore. Lidstrom is proving that age is just a number. His stats do not lie and he is still setting records. He recently set a record for oldest defenseman to score a hat trick and oldest player to score his first hat trick.

He was not only nominated for the Norris at the 2011 NHL awards, but also for the Lady Byng and the Mark Messier Leadership Award. Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis won the Lady Byng and Boston's Zdeno Chara won the Mark Messier Leadership Award.

Lidstrom won his first Norris in 2001 and defended his title until 2003. Although Bobby Ore won the Norris eight times in a row, Lidstrom is approaching his All-Time record. He is under contract for one more year and will most likely be nominated for the award. He is showing that he can still do it.   

He is always at the right place at the right time—not only on the ice, but in the club as well. When Steve Yzerman retired, Wings fans questioned what would happen? The team lost their captain. Brendan Shanahan was gone and the team was stuck on rebuild mode. 

Lidstrom took the call and became Detroit's next captain. There was not a better replacement than him. Hockeytown accepted this and has never looked back. Since then Lidstrom has been named Player of the Decade by multiple sporting news outlets and helped the Wings to win another Stanley Cup.