ST. LOUIS -- When six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom skated against Blues' rookie Patrik Berglund, tonight, it marked a first in the hockey career of the Red Wings' captain.

In Berglund, Lidstrom found himself up against the son of a former teammate.

"That hasn't happened before," said Lidstrom, 38.

Berglund, five games into his NHL career, is a 20-year-old center who was a first-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2006.

Berglund was born in Vasteras, Sweden, in the summer before Nicklas Lidstrom started his professional career as an 18-year-old with his hometown team, Vasteras. Berglund's father, Anders, was a high-scoring center for Vasteras.

Anders Berglund and Lidstrom were teammates for three seasons. Patrik Berglund was a toddler whose playground was often the locker room, spending time at the rink on days when his mother was working at the hospital.

"I was in the locker room a lot when I was little," said Patrik Berglund. "I don't think (Lidstrom) remembers me from then. But I ran around the locker room a lot."

Now, Patrik Berglund is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound second-line center in the NHL, feeling his way out as a professional much as Lidstrom did 20 years ago.

"(Lidstrom) was just 18, but he was already playing as the superstar he is right now," Anders Berglund told the Belleville News-Democrat. "We played together for two years, especially on the power play. I loved to play with him, he never lost a puck."

Patrik Berglund and Lidstrom saw each other a couple of times over this past summer after Berglund finished his third season with Vasteras.

"He's really big back home, but he's a lot bigger here," said Patrik Berglund. "He's been here for 17 years. He's really famous back home. Everyone knows who Nicklas Lidstrom is, but it's on different levels."

And did the younger Berglund quiz his father's former teammate about hockey?

"He's very quiet," said Berglund. "I'm a forward, He's a D-man. I don't know if he'd have too many things to say to me about that."