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Tomas Holmström

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Tomas Holmström
Born (1973-01-23) 23 January 1973 (age 51)
Piteå, Sweden
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for Luleå HF
Detroit Red Wings
National team  Sweden
NHL draft 257th overall, 1994
Detroit Red Wings
Playing career 1990–2012

Bengt Tomas Holmström (born 23 January 1973) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey left winger who played his entire National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he won four Stanley Cup championships with in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008.

During his playing career, Holmström was widely considered as one of the NHL's best at screening the opposition's goaltender, as well as for his physical presence in front of the opposition's net.[1][2]

Playing career

Holmström was first noticed by Detroit Red Wings scout Håkan Andersson in 1993 during a Swedish national team selection camp, where Holmström missed the cut, then again the next year while playing with Boden, where his coach, Niklas Wikegård, told Andersson that Holmström was the team's best player.[3] He was then drafted 257th overall by Detroit in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft and began playing for the Red Wings in the 1996–97 season. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Holmström returned to Sweden to play for his old team, Luleå HF, in the Swedish top flight league, the Elitserien.

Homström was inducted into the Piteå Wall of Fame in his hometown in 2006.

On April 7, 2007, Holmström scored his 30th goal of the 2006–07 season against the Chicago Blackhawks, reaching the 30-goal plateau in a season for the first time in his career.

Holmström scored 12 points during the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs as the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in 11 years over the Pittsburgh Penguins. On his day with the Cup, he had his cousin's daughter baptized in it.[4]

During the 2009–10 season, Holmström was initially selected to play in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. A knee injury sustained on 13 February 13, 2010, in a game against the Ottawa Senators, however, prevented him from playing in the tournament. It was announced the next day, on February 14, that he would be replaced by friend and Red Wing teammate Johan Franzén.[5] The announcement came from Sweden Head Coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson. On June 4, 2010, during the season's subsequent off-season, Holmström agreed on a two-year contract extension to remain in Detroit after an impressive season in which he scored 25 goals, second on the team only to sniper Pavel Datsyuk's 27; Holmström also scored a team-high 13 goals on the power play.

On February 12, 2012, Holmström became only the sixth Red Wing and 272nd NHL player to play 1,000 games.[6]

After the retirement of long-time Red Wings defenceman Nicklas Lidström at the end of the 2011–12 season, Holmström became the last active player from the 1997 and 1998 Stanley Cup-winning Detroit teams to still be active with the team.

On January 22, 2013, Holmström announced his retirement from professional hockey just hours before Detroit's home opener at Joe Louis Arena against the Dallas Stars in the lockout-shortened season.[7] As of January 2013, Holmström held the following records with the Red Wings: sixth in most regular season games played, fourth in playoff games played and 13th in points scored.[8]

Playing style

During his playing career, Holmström was known for his presence in front of the opposition's goal and his ability to screen the opposing team's goaltender.[9] Because he had to withstand teammates' shots towards goal, as well as efforts from opponents to vacate him from in front of the net, Holmström wore additional padding to protect his body.[10] During a playoff series against the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2009, Detroit Head Coach Mike Babcock said of Holmström, "I think there's [defencemen] out there who think they might actually get to him. That's just not possible."[11]

Due to his obstructive playing style and close proximity to goalies and the crease, Holmström attained a reputation and was often charged with goaltender interference penalties as well as occasionally having goals called back because of his proximity to the goaltender's crease. Holmström himself, as well as Red Wings TV announcers Mickey Redmond and Ken Daniels and various national hockey pundits, often questioned the legitimacy of these calls by the on-ice officials.[12][13]

Holmström was known to many fans in Detroit by the nickname of "Homer." He acquired the nickname "Demolition Man" while playing in Sweden, where he was also called "Holma."

International play

Medal record
Representing  Sweden
Ice hockey
Winter Olympics
Gold medal – first place 2006 Turin

Holmström has participated in four international tournaments for Sweden:

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1990–91 Piteå HC Div.1 26 5 4 9 16 — — — — —
1991–92 Piteå HC Div.1 31 15 12 27 44 — — — — —
1992–93 Piteå HC Div.1 31 17 15 32 30 — — — — —
1993–94 Bodens IK Div.1 34 23 16 39 86 — — — — —
1994–95 Luleå HF SEL 40 14 14 28 56 8 1 2 3 20
1995–96 Luleå HF SEL 34 12 11 23 78 11 6 2 8 22
1996–97 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 6 3 1 4 7 — — — — —
1996–97 Detroit Red Wings NHL 47 6 3 9 33 1 0 0 0 0
1997–98 Detroit Red Wings NHL 57 5 17 22 44 22 7 12 19 16
1998–99 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 13 21 34 69 10 4 3 7 4
1999–00 Detroit Red Wings NHL 72 13 22 35 43 9 3 1 4 16
2000–01 Detroit Red Wings NHL 73 16 24 40 40 6 1 3 4 8
2001–02 Detroit Red Wings NHL 69 8 18 26 58 23 8 3 11 8
2002–03 Detroit Red Wings NHL 74 20 20 40 62 4 1 1 2 4
2003–04 Detroit Red Wings NHL 67 15 15 30 38 12 2 2 4 10
2004–05 Luleå HF SEL 47 14 16 30 50 4 0 0 0 18
2005–06 Detroit Red Wings NHL 81 29 30 59 66 6 1 2 3 12
2006–07 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 30 22 52 59 15 5 3 8 14
2007–08 Detroit Red Wings NHL 59 20 20 40 58 21 4 8 12 26
2008–09 Detroit Red Wings NHL 53 14 23 37 38 23 2 5 7 22
2009–10 Detroit Red Wings NHL 68 25 20 45 60 12 4 3 7 12
2010–11 Detroit Red Wings NHL 73 18 19 37 62 11 3 4 7 8
2011–12 Detroit Red Wings NHL 74 11 13 24 40 5 1 1 2 2
SEL totals 121 40 41 81 184 23 7 4 11 60
NHL totals 1,026 243 287 530 769 180 46 51 97 162

International

Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
1996 Sweden WC 6th 6 1 0 1 12
2002 Sweden Oly 5th 4 1 0 1 2
2004 Sweden WCH 5th 4 3 2 5 8
2006 Sweden Oly 1st place, gold medalist(s) 8 1 3 4 10
Senior totals 22 6 5 11 32

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ St. James, Helene (2008-05-29). "McCarty, Draper, Osgood ... those who stay will be champions". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2008-07-23. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) [dead link‍]
  2. ^ Sassone, Tim (2009-04-19). "Bowman sees more net crashing than years ago". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2009-04-22. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Manojlovic, Zoran (2005). "Håkan Andersson, scout extraordinaire". hockeysfuture.com. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
  4. ^ "Wings' Holmstrom uses Stanley Cup in baptism". TSN. 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  5. ^ "Holmström missar OS - Johan Franzén ersätter". 14 February 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  6. ^ "Wings' four-time cup champion Holmstrom retires". National Hockey League. 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2013-01-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Red Wings' Tomas Holmstrom hangs up his skates". USA TODAY Sports. 2013-01-22.
  8. ^ "Wings' Holmstrom retires: 'I had the greatest job in the world'". The Detroit News. 2013-01-22.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Grossman, Evan (2007). "Hand ... eye ... puck ... stick ... goal!". NHL.com. Retrieved 2007-03-07. [dead link‍]
  10. ^ Wigge, Larry (2006). "Cry havoc and let slip Tomas Holmstrom!". NHL.com. Retrieved 2007-03-07.[dead link‍]
  11. ^ Khan, Bill (2009). "Whining and complaining doesn't help Columbus Blue Jackets in 4-0 Game 2 loss to Detroit Red Wings". mlive.com. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  12. ^ Malik, George. "Holmstrom's upset with 'reputation' calls based on goalie theatrics". MLive. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  13. ^ Shelton, Keith. "Stanley Cup Finals: Tomas Holmstrom vs. the Refs". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
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