Career
He first played competitively in his native Finland with Tappara, and HIFK of the Master of Science-liiga before enjoying a lengthy career in the National Hockey League with the Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres and the Anaheim Ducks. Lydman was drafted by Calgary in the fourth round, 89th overall at the 1996 National Hockey League Entry Draft. He spent four seasons playing in Finland"s Master of Science-liiga for Tappara in Tampere and HIFK in Helsinki before making his National Hockey League debut for the Flames in the 2000-2001 National Hockey League season.
His best season came in 2001-2002, when he scored 28 points on 6 goals and 22 assists, tying for fifth for his team in assists and sixth in points scoring.
In the 2002-2003 National Hockey League season, Lydman led his defense in points with 26 and managed to remain injury-free the whole season, only missing one game due to illness. During the 2004-2005 National Hockey League lockout, which wiped out the entire 2004-2005 National Hockey League season, Lydman returned to Helsinki for HIFK but only managed to play eight games.
On 25 August 2005, Lydman was traded from Calgary to the Buffalo Sabres for a third-round draft pick (John Armstrong) in the 2006 National Hockey League Entry Draft,
In the 2007-2008 season, Lydman had the 16th most hits in the league for a defenceman. On July 1, 2010 signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Ducks for $9 million over three years.
His Ducks debut was delayed until mid-October because of problems with double vision.
After completion of the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season, in which he finished the season heavily concussed from a Justin Abdelkader hit in a playoff series loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Lydman retired from professional hockey and accepted a television analyst role to cover Finnish Hockey. Lydman is also a guitarist in the band Mononen, which was started by some friends of his.