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Detroit’s Lidstrom, Holmstrom to set milestones tonight

Lidstrom Holmstrom

There’s no shortage of storylines heading into tonight’s Wings-Ducks game at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit will be looking for its 19th consecutive win at home -- one shy of the NHL record -- while a pair of veterans will set career milestones.

First: Tomas Holmstrom, who will play in his 1,000th NHL contest, becoming just the sixth Red Wing to reach that mark. Not bad for a 10th-round pick (257th overall!) at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, one that’s spent the majority of his career parked in front of the goal crease, taking an insane amount of physical punishment.

“With the amount of games he’s played and the amount of abuse he’s taken, you’d think that his body would have given up on him,’' former Wings teammate Kris Draper told MLive.com. “His pain threshold is probably as high as I’ve ever seen with a hockey player, the stuff that he goes through and how he keeps coming back for more.’'

Second: Nicklas Lidstrom, who will play in his 1,549th game, tying him with Alex Delvecchio for second place on the franchise’s career list. The only man to have played more games wearing the winged wheel is Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe.

“Anytime you get a chance to tie Mr. Delvecchio it’s a special, special thing,” Detroit head coach Mike Babcock said. “I don’t know if Nick wants to hang around long enough to tie Gordie, but good for us and good for them.”

Delvecchio was also full of praise for the seven-time Norris Trophy winner.

“He’s a great hockey player,’' Delvecchio said. “To be truthful, I didn’t even know I had any record for playing games. But I can’t think of a better person to [pass him] than Nick.”