Lidstrom will stay in US during lockout

According to Nick Lidstrom's agent, Don Meehan, his client will, instead of playing in Europe, take some time off from hockey at least until January. If the NHL is still locked out at that time, he may consider going overseas to play then. Nick was in Sweden all summer with his family but has come back because his kids are going to school here. He'll spend the next few months training and waiting for the lockout to end. I have to say this is a huge relief. I hadn't heard what Nick was going to do during the lockout but I pretty much assumed he'd play in Sweden like Forsberg, Naslund, Zetterberg, and the rest of the league's top Swedes. With that assumption had come the fear that Lidstrom would decide to stay there and not return to the Wings when the NHL starts up again. The news yesterday that Peter Forsberg will play a full season for Modo of the Swedish Elite League regardless of what happens with the lockout didn't help any but it seems Nick is no longer thinking in those terms, as he had in the past. Meehan also said that Kris Draper and Curtis Joseph, two more of his clients, are not planning on playing anywhere either and will instead train hard while waiting, as Nick is doing.