Red Wings opener  |  Oct. 2 vs. Blues, in Sweden

'Home opener' a thrill for Sweden-born Wings

Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Tomas Holmstrom couldn't watch NHL hockey games on TV when he was a kid growing up in Pieta, Sweden. The only hockey games shown in those days were Swedish National team games.

"Yeah," said a chuckling Henrik Zetterberg, who grew up in Sundsvall, "but when Homer was growing up it was the '60s. I was able to watch NHL games on television."

But Zetterberg, who is seven years younger than Holmstrom, admitted that only one or two NHL games were shown a week and they were on at 2 a.m.

"If it was a school day, you had no chance of staying up," he said.

Jonathan Ericsson, from Norrkoping and four years younger than Zetterberg, made it a point to stay up late, even on school nights, if the televised game involved the Red Wings.

"I always wanted to see Nicklas play," he said, referring to his locker room neighbor Nicklas Lidstrom. "Detroit wasn't always playing, but whenever they were I made sure I was up in the middle of the night."

Given how remote NHL hockey must have seemed to those guys growing up, imagine how utterly surreal it will be next week when, led by a contingent of eight Swedish-born players, the Red Wings open the NHL season in Stockholm with two games against St. Louis Blues.

'Trip for Nick'

"Never, even when I first came over (to the United States), could I have imagined that this would happen," Lidstrom said. "A few years ago, the league started opening up in Europe and I thought, maybe we would have a chance one of these days and here it is."

It might not have happened were Lidstrom not the player and person he is.

In fact, in many ways, the Wings playing a regular-season game in Sweden is a tribute from the organization to Lidstrom.

"We just thought it was something we should do for a lot of reasons," general manager Ken Holland said. "We are in the winning business, for sure, but we are also in the entertainment business and we are trying to grow our brand and create some excitement for the fans.

"But also we wanted to make this trip for Nick and we felt, even though we hope he's with us for a few more years, if we didn't do it now we might miss an opportunity for the guy. If you figure Bobby Orr is the best defenseman ever, then Nick ranks anywhere between second and fifth among the best that's ever played. We wanted to reward him for such an incredible career."

When that sentiment was relayed to Lidstrom in a league-wide teleconference Wednesday, you could almost feel him blushing through the phone.

"It's nice to hear, you know," he said. "I've been with the Wings for a lot of years. It's great to hear that coming from your boss, you know, that they're thinking of me as a player and being a Swede and everything. It's really nice."

Lidstrom is three points shy of 1,000 for his career, and he could reach the milestone in his homeland.

"You know, it would be nice for it to happen over there," he said. "I'm going to have a lot of friends and family at the games, both games, over there. So it would be nice if it happens there but if not, might as well do it for the fans in Detroit."

'There to do a job'

Lidstrom, from Vasteras, is the oldest of the eight Swede Wings. The others, Holmstrom, Zetterberg, Ericsson, Johan Franzen (Vetlanda), Andreas Lilja (Helsingborg), Daniel Larsson (Boden) -- the third goalie who will be sent to Grand Rapids when the team returns home -- and Niklas Kronwall (Stockholm) are from cities scattered throughout the country.

Thus, since he's the only one from Stockholm, Kronwall will serve as the default host.

"I told Nik, the only thing I am bringing is my passport," Kris Draper said. "No money. He and Hank are in charge."

Kronwall, who grew up playing at the Ericsson Globe arena and has had to come up with 120 tickets for the two games, said he won't be leading too many tours.

"It's not going to be too bad," he said. "The way the schedule is set up, playing three games (exhibition in Karlstad) in six days, there's not going to be a lot of time to do things. Our focus has to be on the games. We're not there for me to be a tour guide and for the guys to be tourists. We're there to do a job."

That said, the non-Swedish Wings are looking forward to the trip almost as much as the natives.

"It's going to be a great experience," Draper said. "We've got a bunch of world-class Swedish hockey players and for them to have this opportunity to play in their home country is special for them and good feeling for us to part of, as well. I grew up in Toronto and I still get excited going up there and it's something I've done 50-60 times. To bring the Red Wings over there is something I'm sure they never thought possible."

'A good memory'

Certainly it was something the pioneer Swedish players -- ones like Borje Salming, Hakan Loob, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson who helped build the bridge to the NHL for the Swede Wings -- never thought possible.

"I can remember in the '80s watching Hakan Loob, Mats Naslund and those players," Lidstrom said. "Borje Salming, he wasn't the first Swede but he was the guy who really stood out and made it over here. He paved the way not only for Swedish players but for all Europeans. The way he played, he took a beating his first couple of years here being the first European to make a name for himself. He was my boyhood idol growing up."

So, as much as this trip to Stockholm is a gift from the Wings to Lidstrom, it also is a tribute from Lidstrom to those who first charted his course.

"It's just another thing that you can look back at when you're done playing, that you had a chance to play with the Wings and over in Sweden and in Stockholm in front of your home fans," he said. "It's something I thought never would happen. It's tough to compare it to winning Stanley Cups or winning Olympic gold, but it's something that it will be a good memory for me and my family."

chris.mccosky@detnews.com