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HOCKEY

US city honours Swedish NHL star Lidström

Swedish NHL star Nicklas Lidström has been honoured by his US hometown in recognition of his sporting achievements with the Detroit Red Wings.

US city honours Swedish NHL star Lidström

The city of Novi, where the Swedish star and many of his Detroit teammates have their homes, has decided to name the road leading up to the Novi Ice Arena after the Swede, the team reported on their official website last week.

“I’m truly honored to be recognized like that and to have a street named after me,” Lidström said.

Lidström lives in the Oakland County community where the arena is located and where the Nick Lidstrom Drive will now serve as testimony to the big Swede’s impact on the sport in the area.

Red Wings captain Lidström has a long list of accomplishments in the NHL, including winning the Stanley Cup four times and the James Norris Memorial Trophy (awarded annual for the best defence player) on six occasions.

The 40-year-old from Avesta in central Sweden is widely heralded as one of Sweden’s finest exports to the NHL and was recently described by The Hockey News journal as a “freak of nature”.

The journal has also voted him the “Best European-trained player ever in the NHL”.

Lidström will join former teammate Steve Yzerman as the only Red Wings star to be given the honour of a local street name. However when the idea was first touted, Lidström reported feeling “overwhelmed” by the offer.

“First, I was like, ‘Wow! They would do that for me?’ ” he said. “It was that kind of feeling, but then it quickly turned to being an honour.”

Nicklas Lidström was part of the Swedish team which won the World Championship in 1991 and he was a major factor in Sweden’s 2006 Olympic win, scoring the gold medal clinching goal which earned him a spot on the Olympic All-Star team.

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NHL

It’s official: Sweden’s Lundqvist is the NHL’s best goalie

Sweden's Henrik Lundqvist made 12 straight saves to win the goaltender competition at the NHL all-star game's skill night.

It's official: Sweden's Lundqvist is the NHL's best goalie
Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers celebrates winning the Ticketmaster NHL Save Streak during the 2019 SAP NHL All-Star Skills contest on Friday in San Jose, California. Photo: Thearon W. Hender
The New York Rangers goalie knocked off Russian Olympian Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who held the lead through several rounds after stopping the first eight shots he faced. 
 
The skill contests held on Friday night in San Jose, California also saw Edmonton Oilers speedster Connor McDavid win his third straight fastest skater title in a competition that included a female participant for the first time.
 
Canada's McDavid charged around the rink in just 13.37 seconds to eclipse Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel, who finished in 13.58 seconds at the SAP Center arena.
 
Kendall Coyne, who plays on the American women's national team, was invited to take part and finished seventh out of eight skaters, beating out Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller. Coyne cruised to a time of 14.34 seconds while Keller, who has 11 goals and 35 points with the Coyotes this season, finished in 14.52. 
 
“I thought she was unbelievable,” McDavid said. “She was absolutely flying out there.” 
 
Last year, Coyne's teammate Hilary Knight did the accuracy shooting drill, but her impressive time wasn't included in the official results.
 
Johnny Gaudreau defended his title in the puck control contest with a time of 27.045, and John Carlson, who captured a Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals last season, won the hardest shot contest with a blast of 102.8 mph.
 
The NHL all-star game will take place on Sunday.