Michael Russo's Sunday Insider: Hart conversation starter

Jamie Sabau, Nhli Via Getty Images

Nicklas Lidstrom, shown blocking a shot against Columbus, is seemingly always in the right position.

Even though he's a defenseman, Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom is probably a front-runner for league MVP.

By michael russo'ssunday insider, Star Tribune

Last update: February 9, 2008 - 9:36 PM

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WILD WEEK IN REVIEW

Record: 0-1-1

• On a 7-2-1 run, the streaking Wild tripped up Tuesday against the Red Wings when it blew a 2-1 lead with 80 seconds to go only to lose 3-2 in overtime on Brett Lebda's winner. Then, Thursday against Dallas, left wing Niklas Hagman scored the game's lone goal in a 1-0 Stars victory.

STAR TRIBUNE'S STAR OF THE WEEK: Mike Smith, Stars

• The backup goalie stepped in for an injured Marty Turco and stoned the Wild with 25 saves for his fifth career shutout. His biggest was a diving right pad save to rob Marian Gaborik, which led to Dallas' only goal.

THIS WEEK: Three games

Today: at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Tuesday: at Edmonton, 8 p.m. Thursday: at Vancouver, 9 p.m.

• Marian Gaborik has a 13-game point streak against the Blues, Pavol Demitra's old team. Demitra has 18 points in 10 games against St. Louis since leaving there as a free agent.

THE QUOTE

"When a goal like that goes in you’re like, 'Are you kidding me?’ A fluky goal to send you to overtime. That was really hard to swallow." — Wild center Eric Belanger on Dan Cleary’s tying goal Tuesday for Detroit

MICHAEL RUSSO

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It was Super Tuesday, so, of course, it was only fitting that the Detroit Red Wings went on an all-out campaign inside Xcel Energy Center in an attempt to pick up delegates in the Nicklas Lidstrom-for-Hart Trophy race.

But don't expect the always-humble, soft-spoken, illustrious defenseman to make any grand speeches.

Leave that to his respected campaign manager, Mike Babcock.

"I hear who the best player in the league is every day. There's a new guy every day. The best player in the league, his team wins all the time. His name is Nick Lidstrom," said Babcock, the Red Wings coach. "He's the best player on the best team. How is he not the most valuable player in the league? I don't know how he cannot be."

The 37-year-old Lidstrom, who unfortunately for the rest of the NHL signed a two-year extension in December, has won five of the past six Norris Trophies as the sport's best defenseman. But the Red Wings believe Lidstrom deserves more this season, and it's hard to argue when studying the evidence.

Lidstrom plays the most important minutes (an average of 27 minutes, 16 seconds a game) on the team running away with the NHL regular season. He's a league-best plus-43, leading all NHL defensemen with 47 assists and 54 points. And he has taken only 15 minor penalties all season.

"This should be the one year that hands-down he should win the MVP," teammate Chris Chelios said. "What he's done -- almost plus-50, and the team's record and his leadership abilities and who's most important to this team, without a doubt, nobody's more valuable.

"For me playing with or against him, he is the best I've ever seen. Just think, he plays against the other team's top line every night, and manages to put up numbers while doing it. He might do it quietly, he might not wow you, but the numbers and proof are there."

Chris Pronger, in 2000 with the St. Louis Blues, is the only defenseman to win a Hart Trophy since Bobby Orr won three in a row, the last in 1972. And Pronger's came after his agent, Pat Morris, contacted virtually every voting writer in the NHL.

"Nick makes everybody better," Babcock said. "[Mathieu Schneider] came here and was put with Nick. He had a career year. When [Danny] Markov came here, he has a career year. [Andreas] Lilja, he has a career year. [Brian] Rafalski's a great defenseman, but he comes here, we put him with Nick and he's having a career year.

"What's the common theme?"

Few players are more poised than Lidstrom, a career plus-381 and three-time Stanley Cup champ. He's an artist positionally and as durable as they get. In his 15-plus seasons, no NHL player has played more than Lidstrom's 1,233 games. He has missed only 22 games in his career.

He rarely goes out of his way to take a run at a player, which explains why he rarely takes penalties. And on the rare occasions he turns the puck over, he usually recovers, as was the case Tuesday night when he put the puck on an oncoming Marian Gaborik's stick. Lidstrom calmly used his long reach to sweep the puck out of harm's way into the corner.

"I just think he's the best," said the Wild's Kim Johnsson, Lidstrom's defense partner for Sweden in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. "He's at the right spot all the time. He's so calm out there. He doesn't get stressed out, so he doesn't ever make those panic plays. He kind of sits back and watches and just steers guys out. He's the best player in the game."

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