TORONTO - Nicklas Lidstrom hunched over a railing on a platform overlooking one of the MasterCard Centre’s four rinks. From afar on Saturday morning, he looked like a man at peace observing Team Sweden practise at an upbeat pace.
There, in the stands, the best hockey player to don the Tre Kronor watched over his legacy about 30 hours prior to its debut at the World Cup of Hockey.
A senior adviser for the Swedish national program, Lidstrom retired from playing in 2012. The career-long Detroit Red Wings defenceman’s accolades are immortalized at the Hockey Hall of Fame, just down the street from the Air Canada Centre, where the tournament is being contested.