Nicklas Erik Lidström (born April 28, 1970) is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman who played his entire 20-season National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Detroit Red Wings, captaining the Red Wings for the final six seasons of his career.

Lidstrom is often referred to as Mr. Perfect or The Perfect Human. Over his 20 NHL seasons, Lidström won four Stanley Cups, seven James Norris Memorial Trophies as the NHL's best defenseman, one Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, and has been voted into twelve NHL All-Star Games. Over the course of his career, Lidström became the first European-born and trained NHL captain to win the Stanley Cup, as well as the first European player named playoff MVP. Lidström is also the all-time leader in games played with only one NHL team and by a European-born player. Lidström never missed the postseason in any of his 20 NHL seasons.

Representing Sweden, Lidström won the World Championship in 1991. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Lidström was a major factor in Sweden's win over Finland in the finals, scoring the gold medal clinching goal, thus earning him a spot on the Olympic All-Star Team. He also became the 17th member of the Triple Gold Club. The Hockey News selected Lidström as the "Best European-trained player ever in the NHL". The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated selected Lidström as the "NHL Player of the Decade".

Kristopher Draper (born May 24, 1971) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player. Draper is a four-time winner of the Stanley Cup, a Frank J. Selke Trophy winner and scored over 100 goals in the Red Wings uniform. Draper was a member of the famous Grind Line in Detroit, consisting of himself, Kirk Maltby and either Joe Kocur or Darren McCarty. The line was reunited with the return of McCarty to the Wings in the 2007–08 season.

Draper grew up in West Hill, Ontario (a suburb of Toronto), playing minor hockey for the Don Mills Flyers of the MTHL. After attending De La Salle College (Toronto), he was selected by the OHL's Windsor Spitfires in the 4th round of the 1988 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection, however, elected to play for the Canadian National Team.

Drafted 62nd overall in the 1989 Draft by the Winnipeg Jets, Draper did not see much NHL action in his early years. He is a rarity in that he played in the American Hockey League (AHL) and NHL before playing junior in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). After playing just 20 games in the 4 seasons since he was drafted, he was traded to Detroit in 1993 for a dollar.Doug MacLean, the general manager of the Adirondack Red Wings at that time and a former Detroit Red Wings assistant, was responsible for the trade. Draper would quickly become a valuable fixture in Detroit's rotation, and he began his reputation as the "One Dollar Man", eventually becoming one of only five players (three others were longtime teammates) to play over 1,000 games in a Red Wings uniform.

Joseph Eric Thornton (born July 2, 1979) is a Canadian American professional ice hockey centre and captain of the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected first overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and went on to play seven seasons with the club, five as its Captain. During the 2005–06 season, he was traded to the Sharks. Splitting the campaign between the two teams, he received the Art Ross and Hart Memorial Trophies as the league's leading point-scorer and most valuable player, respectively. Thornton's on-ice vision, strength on the puck, deft passing ability, and power forward style of play have led to him becoming one of the league's premier top line centres. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, he has received the nickname Jumbo Joe.

Thornton grew up playing minor hockey in his hometown of St. Thomas, Ontario, for the St. Thomas Travelers. He played "AA" hockey for the Travelers until joining a peewee team that won an Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) championship in 1992–93.^{[citation needed]} Moving on to the bantam level, Thornton joined the "AAA" Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs of the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario for the 1993–94 season. During his bantam year, he also appeared in six games for the Junior B St. Thomas Stars of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA). The following season, he joined the Stars full-time and reeled off 104 points over 50 games.