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The way Tomas Holmstrom plays may be considered X-rated by most of his opponents, but he's come a long way from being simply a distraction or a space eater in front of the net.
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Cry havoc and let slip
Tomas Holmstrom!
By Larry Wigge | NHL.com columnist
Mar. 3, 2006
When he puts on his equipment and gets ready to play, it looks more like the ritual of a gladiator from years of yore or like an X-Games player. Everything is very carefully put on in order.
The hockey pants have been reinforced in the back from the seat on up and include about eight inches of padding for more protection. There's also protection in the back of the shin pads -- made of strong plastics or Kevlar. He wears extra padding almost everywhere, behind his knees and over his calves and ankles.
Whether Tomas Holmstrom is playing for the Detroit Red Wings or the Swedish Olympic Team, he has gone from what some refer to as "Demolition Man" or a target for abuse or distraction in front of the opponent's net to an X-factor to his team's success.
His best performances have come in the 1998 and 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when he scored seven and eight goals, respectively, or as many or more than he scored in the entire regular season in helping Detroit to a pair of Stanley Cups.
The way Holmstrom plays may be considered X-rated by most of his NHL opponents, but he's come a long way from being simply a distraction or a space eater in front of the net. Not that that role hasn't become an important one in the NHL these days.
I remember standing next to future Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy near the bench area after a Red Wings practice early in the 2001-02 season and listening to Roy speak apathetically -- and yet admiringly -- about Holmstrom.
Larry Wigge has covered the NHL since 1969. The longtime NHL columnist for The Sporting News, Wigge is now an NHL.com columnist and a frequent contributor to the website.
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"Look at him," Roy said, watching Holmstrom stand in front of the net trying to deflect shots from Chris Chelios for nearly 15 minutes. "He could be satisfied in being a pain in the *@% the rest of career. But he's trying to do more ... and I'll bet he succeeds, too."
That scene, in which current Red Wings' No. 1 goaltender Manny Legace gave up quite a few goals on tip-ins and deflections, took place early in the 2001-02 season, before Holmstrom and the Red Wings got past Roy and the Colorado Avalanche to get to the Finals, and before Holmstrom scored a career-high 20 goals in 2002-03.
Going into the season's Olympic break, Holmstrom was a cinch to beat his personal high, having already scored 19 goals -- including nine on Detroit's No. 1 rated power play.
What some might consider a contradiction in terms, Holmstrom always seems to be surrounded by an array of talented scorers. Whether it is in Detroit and or Torino, Italy, at the Olympics, "The Demolition Man" is satisfied earning his keep the hard way, which is usually marked by a welt here or there -- even with all the protection he is wearing. The key for Holmstrom, however, is dishing out only a portion of abuse, so that he draws an opponent's ire and a penalty, or distracts the opposition enough to get a goal or cause enough havoc in front of the net to open things up from one of his sharp-shooting teammates to score.
It's an interesting job.
"Do I ever get to the point where I want to fight back?" he said with a straight face after a Colorado-Detroit game just before the Olympic break. "Oh yeah. Every game. I think about planting a two-hander across the mouth of someone on the other team, but then I quickly remember what got me to the NHL."
The trick to this unpleasant insanity for the 6-foot, 215-pound, 33-year-old from Pitea, Sweden, is planting himself squarely in front of an opponent's net with his feet in a wide stance and his stick almost always nearly buried on the ice -- making him like a tripod so that he is extra hard to move. Yes, even with a constant barrage of jolts to his back and legs by defensemen and goaltender's sticks.
"Goalies today are too good," Holmstrom told me. "Shots without any traffic in front of them are routine saves for them. I learned long ago that my skills are limited. But if I can make a pest of myself by blocking the sightlines of a goalie or maybe even gently bump him -- anything to distract him -- well, then, I've done my job."
There was a big smile on Holmstrom's face when he said he gently bumps an opposing goalie ... occasionally. Tomas might be considered by goalies as sort of a demon, or mad scientist. And the method to his madness, or magic to Holmstrom's mindset, is that often times he will occupy an opposing defenseman or two, creating even more traffic in front of the goaltender.
The onetime 10th-round pick from northern Sweden, the 257th pick in the 1994 Entry Draft, doesn't skate very well. But so often he gets to his favorite spot and what results is: Shot, tip and goal.
"You learn to get under someone's skin," Holmstrom smiled.
Avalanche defenseman Rob Blake comments on Tomas Holmstrom:
"He doesn't retaliate. Most people, they'd be slashing and spearing people who whack him like we do. Give him credit, he's become a real weapon for the Red Wings."
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"Homer", as he's called by his teammates, learned this trick, this gimmick, because he was usually too small to play with the other boys as a teen-ager.
"I was always the smallest kid, but this was my way to get in the game," he laughed. "Get a bloody nose and get right back up and smile at one of the bigger and older guys who knocked me down. Sounds crazy, but that's what got me here."
Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman told me there's one thing you can never accuse Holmstrom of.
"You can never say he's not involved," Yzerman said, emphatically.
Edmonton Oilers defenseman Chris Pronger has administered plenty of whacks on Holmstrom over the years in his years with the St. Louis Blues. But that doesn't change Tomas' game plan.
"He just digs in deeper," Pronger said, shaking his head.
"He doesn't retaliate," said Avalanche defenseman Rob Blake, also shaking his head. "Most people, they'd be slashing and spearing people who whack him like we do. Give him credit, he's become a real weapon for the Red Wings."
Nuisance. Distraction. Annoyance. This Homer authors no poetic Odyssey.
"While most kids grow up wanting to be faster, I knew I was slow and small," Holmstrom told me. "I worked to get bigger by lifting weights. But I'm still slow."
Knowing his limitations and just working harder on his strengths have made Holmstrom a player who doesn't stick out like a sore thumb around more talented teammates in Detroit or Torino.
Former Red Wings coach Dave Lewis said this about Holmstrom a couple weeks ago, "Homer is not unlike one of those big, strong running backs in the NFL. They pound and pound away at a defense for three quarters and by that time the defense is worn out and big plays start to happen."
In other words, though Holmstrom's work isn't always there in black and white on the score sheet, his teammates know that a lot of their offense is generated because of the hard work down down in the trenches by a player such as Tomas Holmstrom.
And no one takes Holmstrom lightly, even if teammate Kris Draper jokingly compares "The Demolition Man" to a guy who walks up to the corner of a street and steps into a phone booth -- and stays there for a long time.
"Only Homer doesn't come out in a Superman outfit," Draper said, laughing. Not Superman to anyone ... except to Red Wings fans.
"He's definitely not like your typical Swedish player," defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said of his countryman, laughing. "He's not fast and skillful like a Henrik Zetterberg. Or big with good hands like Michael Samuelsson. Or ... "
At that point, Lidstrom paused and just shook his head, saying, "Hey, he's Homer. He's one of a kind."
And there's absolutely nothing funny or wrong about being one of the most valuable role players in the NHL, is there?
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