To date, there are four players that have crossed the 1000 career regular season point plateau while wearing a Red Wings jersey. One of those players, Niklas Lidstrom is still playing for the Wings with no signs of quit. All four have worn the ‘C’ on their jersey as team captain. Three of the four have their numbers retired by Detroit and are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

All but 41 of Gordie Howe’s regular season points came while playing for Detroit. Mr. Hockey played 25 seasons with the Red Wings and contributed 1,809 points. He retired after the 1970-71 season but came back to play hockey in the World Hockey Association three years later. After six years in the WHA, Howe played one final season in the NHL during the 1979-80 season with the Hartford Whalers before retiring for good.

Steve Yzerman needed just one more season to top Howe’s point total. Instead, Stevie-Y called it quits after 22 seasons with the Red Wings. Detroit was the only team Yzerman played for in the NHL and he holds the league mark for the most years as captain of a single team. Steve retired with 1,755 regular season points. He played less games over his career than Howe but had a higher points per game average. Yzerman is the Red Wings all-time leader in assists, topping Howe by 40.

Third on the list is Alex Delvecchio with 1,281 points. Delvecchio, like Yzerman, played all his NHL career with Detroit. With parts of 23 seasons in a Red Wings uniform, Alex holds the NHL record for the most games and years for a player that spent his whole career with just one team.

In continuing with a Detroit tradition, Niklas Lidstrom has just finished his 19th season in the NHL, all with the Red Wings. Lidstrom is the only defenseman to achieve the 1000 point plateau for Detroit. After the 2010-11 season, Niklas sits with a total of 1,108 points. In the all-time assists category, Lidstrom jumped past Alex Delvecchio this season into third spot overall behind Yzerman and Howe.

Pavel Datsyuk is the only current Red Wing within striking range of becoming the fifth player with 1000 points for Detroit. After the 2010-11 season, Pavel sits with 651 in a Red Wings uniform. Like Yzerman and Delvecchio, Detroit is the only NHL city Datsyuk has called home.