Lidstrom’s Number to be Retired Next Season

Ansar Khan of MLive reports this morning that the Red Wings will hold off on retiring Nicklas Lidstrom’s jersey number until next season.

According to Khan and a tweet by the Windsor Star’s Bob Duff on Sunday night, the team had originally planned on raising Lidstrom’s #5 to the Joe Louis Arena rafters prior to a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on February 5. With the compressed post-lockout schedule for the 2013 season, the team will hold off on the retirement ceremony rather than rush to fit it in.

I think it’s safe to assume that, given the schedule for when Lidstrom’s number was going to be retired and when Steve Yzerman’s number was retired, we’ll see a ceremony in December of 2013 or January or February of 2014, on a Tuesday or Wednesday night against a non-rival team.

Yzerman’s number was retired on a Tuesday night in January against the Anaheim Ducks, a team with whom the Wings had little history at the time. Lidstrom’s was to have been raised on another Tuesday, this one in February with the Wings hosting the hapless Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Red Wings will look to capitalize on a game that normally wouldn’t have much demand for tickets by attaching Lidstrom’s event to it. We’ll see what options they have when the 2013-14 schedule is released.