It's official. Longtime Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom is retiring.

Lidstrom, 42, lives in Novi with his family during the hockey season and had been debating whether to retire after playing for 20 seasons in the NHL.

Lidstrom announced his decision Thursday during a press conference alongside Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch and general manager Ken Holland. Lidstrom was named captain of the Red Wings for the 2006-07 season following the retirement of longtime captain Steve Yzerman.

In his address to the media, Lidstrom thanked Holland for assembling a competitive Detroit team each year.

"I never even wanted to leave Detroit," he said. "I always believed in this team, and this organization and what they would do to win another Stanley Cup."

He also acknowledged Brad McCrimmon, his linemate as a young NHL player and assistant coach during the 2010-11 season. McCrimmon, who lived in Northville, died in a 2011 plane crash in Russia.

With his retirement, Lidstrom caps a Hall of Fame-worthy NHL career, in which he helped lead the Red Wings to four Stanley Cup championships while collecting seven Norris trophies, recognizing the top defensive player in the NHL each season.

Lidstrom came to the Red Wings in the 1991-92 season, and Detroit has appeared in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in every season he played with the team, an ongoing record unrivaled in all of professional sports.

Lidstrom said he would return his family to his native Sweden, but wouldn't rule out a future role with the Red Wings organization.

Among Lidstrom's career highlights:

• Helped lead Red Wings to first Stanley Cup in 42 years in 1997, sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers in the finals.
• 2006 Olympic gold medalist for Sweden in Turin, Italy. Lidstrom scored the game-winning goal.
• Named captain of 2010-11 NHL All-Star Game. Team Lidstrom defeated Team Staal, named after Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal, 11-10.
• Became 14th player in NHL history to play 1,500 games on Oct. 22, 2011. He joins Red Wings icons Alex Delvecchio and Steve Yzerman as the only three NHL players to play more than 1,500 games exclusively with the same team. He holds the record for the most games played by any European-born player at 1,564.
• 12-time NHL All-Star (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011). Did not play in 2009 due to injury.
• Conn Smythe winner for MVP of Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2002. 
• Won World Championship with Sweden in 1991. With a World Championship, Olympic gold medal and Stanley Cup to his name, Lidstrom is part of the Triple Gold Club, an honor shared with just 24 other players.