Red Wings announce details about Nick Lidstrom Night

By Michael Caples – 

The day the No. 5 Red Wings jersey officially hangs from the Joe Louis Arena rafters is almost here.

The Red Wings announced today that there is a game time change for their March 6 contest against Colorado – puck drop will now take place at 8 p.m. to accommodate for the jersey retirement ceremony for Nicklas Lidstrom.

Doors at JLA will open at 5:30 p.m., and fans are encouraged to get to the building early – the ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Ceremony activities will conclude by 7:20 p.m., followed by warm-ups and puck drop at 8 p.m.

The pre-game ceremony will be aired on Fox Sports Detroit, beginning at 6:30 p.m., and fans will also be able to watch it on the Red Wings’ official site shortly after the start of the game.

Ken Daniels will host the ceremony, which will feature speeches from Mike Babcock, Ken Holland, Christopher Ilitch and Lidstrom. Also attending the ceremony will be Detroit legends Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, Steve Yzerman and members of the Abel and Sawchuk families. Lidstrom’s former coaches Scotty Bowman, Dave Lewis and Barry Smith, as well as Lidstrom’s former teammates; Chris Chelios, Igor Larionov, Brendan Shanahan, Robert Lang, Bob Rouse, Yves Racine, Mathieu Schneider, Manny Legace, Tomas Holmstrom, Anders Eriksson, Kris Draper and Vladimir Konstantinov will be on the ice for the ceremony.

Fans without a ticket to the big night can still celebrate No. 5 with other Red Wings fans by attending the viewing party at the 400-person City Theatre. The City Theatre will show the retirement ceremony, and Lidstrom will stop by at intermission.

Fans who attend with receive a replica mini-banner courtesy of Flagstar Bank, and have an opportunity to buy the limited edition book, Five: A Salute To Nick Lidstrom by Bill Roose.

Please be aware that professional grade cameras and recording devices will not be allowed inside JLA.