Holmstrom Signs Two-Year Extension; Becomes Wing for Life

Tomas Holmstrom will remain in Detroit for the rest of his career, much to the joy of Red Wings' fans and the dismay of opposing goalies.

Last season Holmstrom scored 25 goals and 45 points in 68 games, but those numbers don't include all the screen-shots he doesn't tip or get an assist on. "Homer" has had his butt in the faces of NHL goaltenders for 13 seasons, getting cross-checks and stinky gloves in the face as a result. However, doing it all wearing the Winged Wheel means he also got repaid with 4 Stanley Cups along the way.

Holmstrom's cap-hit will drop from $2.25m last season to $1.875m for the next two seasons, a great deal for 25 goals, no doubt.

Per Ansar Khan of mlive: "I'm very excited about it; I know Tomas is, too,'' Howard Gourwitz, Holmstrom's agent, told Booth Newspapers. "It's a real honor to play for one team your entire career. To have won four Stanley Cups is a dream come true. He's really excited and he's proud to stay here.''

This signing gives us a clearer picture of how the Red Wings' roster will shape up. With 17 players signed at approximately $52.25m. The salary cap is expected to be around $58m to $58.8m, leaving Ken Holland with plenty of space to make all the anticipated re-signings. Two UFA's -- Todd Bertuzzi ($1.5m last season) and Andreas Lilja ($1.2m), five RFA's -- Darren Helm ($.6m), Justin Abdelkader ($.8m), Drew Miller ($.5m), Patrick Eaves ($.5m) and Derek Meech ($.5m) are all expected to receive offers to stay in Detroit.

Red Wings Partnership Awards 2009/10

The NHL Awards are coming up and the 2010 Alternative NHL Awards from "On the Forecheck" have also been handed out. Now it's time for the inaugural Red Wings Partnership Awards for the 2009/2010 regular season. All stats are based on 5-on-5 scoring only.

These awards are based purely on the statistics that reflect a particular pair's chemistry (or lack thereof). So now we'll start off with the less esteemed honors. There are only two -- and poor old Jonny Ericsson found himself winning both of them.

Firstly, we have the "Any Time Now" Award -- which goes to the pair that spent the most time on the ice together without appearing on the scoresheet together for a goal.

Yep, on the ice for over 327 minutes and no hook-ups. It's a little more acceptible considering they're defensemen. But still, Janik hooked-up with four different Red Wings in only 156 minutes of ice time total.

The "Bad Influence" Award goes to the pair with the lowest +/- of any other pairing in the team.

It's kinda surprising to see how bad Brad Stuart's plus/minus is this year. He hasn't been awful but the numbers suggest otherwise. Ericsson's stats on the other hand, not as surprising. This pair was on the ice for 12 more goals against than for -- ouch!

Now onto the good Awards. For some of these we'll have a little countdown...

The "Joined at the Hip" Award is for the pair with the most TOI together.

5th: Lidstrom & Zetterberg - 621.9 mins

4th: Datsyuk & Rafalski - 636.5 mins

3rd: Lidstrom & Datsyuk - 680.4 mins

2nd: Datsyuk & Holmstrom - 716.9 mins

Pretty obvious really. The only thing worth noting about this is Brad Stuart, who had the most 5-on-5 ice time of any skater on the the team, seemed to spend it with no-one in particular as he's doesn't partner with anyone enough to make even the top 7 in this category.

The "One For Me, One For You" Award is for the pair that most demonstrates that sharing is caring. It's for the duo that reciprocates the most goals and assists with each other. No countdown necessary.

That's right, there's a lot of love between these two. Four times Hank set up his man Bert for a goal and four times Bert returned the favor.

The "Giving Man" Award is an individual honor for the player which has been the most selfless in his relationship with his teammate. The Best Giving Man in Detroit is the one whose assists to his partner most outweighs his assists from him. Also, no countdown needed.

Pavel Datsyuk: the ultimate giving man. Well, for Homer anyway. It was a bit of a one-way relationship between the two this year -- Homer got 7 goals from Pasha, and only gave 2 in return. Selfish, selfish sod.

Following on from that...

The "Hook A Brother Up" Award is for the pair with the most hook-ups during the season.

Tied-4th: Zetterberg & Bertuzzi - 11

Tied-4th: Lidstrom & Zetterberg - 11

Tied-2nd: Eaves & Helm - 12

Tied-2nd: Datsyuk & Zetterberg -12

Datsyuk and Holmstrom's ability to click isn't too surprising. But one thing I'd like to highlight is Patrick Eaves and Darren Helm getting on the scoresheet together 12 times -- good for second in the team. That's quite impressive for two guys who aren't scorers. Great synergy, I hope they do it again next season.

The "Quickest Hook-Up" Award is for the pair with the best hook-up rate during the season. To be counted, a pair must've had at least 3 hook-ups to give the data some integrity.

5th: Miller & Draper - 36.08 mins/HU

4th: Franzen & Holmstrom - 35.70 mins/HU

3rd: Cleary & Miller - 33.80 mins/HU

2nd: Cleary & Filppula - 33.43 mins/HU

Hank and Homer get it done the most consistent and quick, hooking-up once every 32.76 minutes. Very impressive. Also impressive was Miller apprearing in the top 5 twice -- with Draper and Cleary. I hope we retain the Detroit-native for the 2010/11 season.

The "Net Gain" Award to me is about the best single indicator of a pair's effectiveness together. The duo with the highest plus/minus for the season get this award as the biggest "Net Gainers". This excludes goalies.

5th: Rafalski & Zetterberg - +12

Tied-3rd: Datsyuk & Holmstrom - +14

Tied-3rd: Lidstrom & Datsyuk - +14

2nd: Datsyuk & Rafalski - +16

It's not a particularly surprising revelation that the two players with the highest +/- on the team pair up for the best simultaneous +/- but again this season, this was a very effective pair. Ralf and Lids are still two of the best D-men in the league and provide Detroit with a first-class top pairing.

And now, the biggie...

The "I Love You, Man" Award is for the pair that share the truest, most undying love for each other. This is an award based on my own estimations factoring into it all the pair statistics, for the best overall Red Wings partnership of the 2009/2010 season.

5th: Zetterberg & Filppula - 5 Hook-Ups, 43.20 mins/HU, 216 mins, +5

4th: Franzen & Holmstrom - 8 Hook-Ups, 35.70 mins/HU, 285.6 mins, +1

3rd: Datsyuk & Zetterberg - 12 Hook-Ups, 36.13 mins/HU, 433.6 mins, +5

2nd: Lidstrom & Rafalski - 3 Hook-Ups, 349.17 mins/HU, 1047.5 mins, +17

Overall, the stats these two put up together couldn't be ignored. They were only tandem to combine a large hook-up total with a great +/- rating. The love between these two is strong. Every time they gaze into each others eyes there is an eternal flame that burns... burns the competition. Goalies hate them, but they don't care. They have each other and that's all they need.

Homer + Pasha 4eva.

Game 5; Red Wings vs. NHL Referees Preview

The Western Conference Semi-Final series between Detroit and uhh... San Jose continues tonight back in Northern California in Game 5.

I successfully managed to keep quiet about the awful officiating in Games 1-3, in an attempt to not sound too bitter about the losses. So I waited 'til we won to whine about it.

Even after the huge 7-1 performance on Thursday night, Detroit still finds themselves in a big 3-1 hole in the series. A win in this game will however send the series back to Motown for a chance to tie it. That would certainly makes things interesting, but... a win tonight is needed first.

There are a number of keys to getting the victory in this one.

Firstly, stay out of the box!! The refs seem to have been constantly looking for excuses to hand the Sharks a powerplay throughout the series, a bit of extra discipline to not give them the excuses will go a long way to winning. This I cannot stress this enough when already down a man. The Sharks have scored 3 goals in this series with a 2-man advantage. That hurts!

Another key is shutting down Pavelski. We did it in Game 4, but one would think Little Joe would come out with a little more fire back in his own barn. Keeping him quiet will go a long way!

Two other important factors are associated with the Scary Pairs for tonight.

Scary Pair Numero Uno is obvious. Franzen and Bertuzzi combined for 5 goals and 6 assists in Game 4 in a monumental performance from the duo. The Sharks will look to keep the Zetterberg-Franzen-Bertuzzi line quiet which leads me to Scary Pair Two...

...Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom may just find themselves with less attention than usual tonight. Todd McLellan is very familiar with Johan Franzen's 9 goals in 4 games destruction of the Colorado Avalanche in 2008 and will keep that at the forefront of his mind when sending out his lines. Dats and Homer could see some opportunities tonight and they'll need to take advantage of them. They've both been relatively quiet in the series so far.

Brad Stuart's undisclosed lower body injury is said to be fairly minor and he's likely to play, while a larger question mark floats over the head of Patrick Eaves and his elbow.

The puck drops and about 10:10 tonight.... GO WINGS!!!

Red Wings Finish 5th with Gutsy Win over 'Hawks

A solid OT road win over possibly the league's best all-round team is a great way to sum up the Red Wings finish to the 2009/2010 regular season.

After trailing 1-0 after the first from an ugly, very playoff-like powerplay goal from the Blackhawks Dave Bolland, Detroit kept their sticks on the ice as they defended against the formidable Chicago attack whilst countering with some offense of their own.

Patrick Eaves tied the game up in the second and a Tomas Holmstrom tip on Brian Rafalski's blueline drive in the third gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead as the "De-troit sucks!" chants had a rare silencing at the United Center.

The playoff-like defense continued as the Wings defended their modest lead with success but the skate of the red-hot Colin Fraser was too much to stop, tying it up only 3 minutes later.

The Wings were forced to kill off one more penalty with 2:32 left on the clock to earn the point keep them above the Predators, but the Kings overtime win in Denver moments earlier meant Detroit needed a second point to take 5th-place and a first-round match-up against the Coyotes.

The free-flowing OT period lasted only 3:11 as Brad Stuart ended the regular seasons for both teams with just his 4th goal of the season, capping off the Wings amazing finish to the season with a 3-2 overtime win, and a 15-2-2 run.

Additional bonus: No Conference title for Chicago. Unlucky!!

Special Teams

Today's game was a rare one, where Detroit took more penalties than their opponents. Detroit went 0/2 on their opportunities while keeping the 'Hawks to 1/4 after giving up a PP goal only 11 seconds into the first man-advantage of the game.

In Net

- Jimmy Howard had another great performance, capping off a 15-1-2 end to his regular season. Howard made 27 saves for the Wings including 16 in the middle frame, keeping the Wings in the game.

- Antti Niemi stopped 18 of 21 Detroit shots on goal, finishing his magnificent rookie season with a 26-7-4 record.

Up Next...

The Phoenix Coyotes in the Stanley Cup Playoffs!!!

Wings Seek Seventh Straight; Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets Preview

Detroit looks to do something they haven't done in two years; win 7 in a row. More importantly, Detroit looks to do something they haven't done this season; sit 5th in the West.

Tonight's game vs. Columbus marks only the fourth game of the season between the divisional rivals, who will play another pair of games against each other before the conclusion of the regular season.

Columbus has been pretty hot lately under the guidance of new coach Claude Noel, going 7-2-2 in their last 11 games. Two of those wins against the Central division leaders, the Chicago Blackhawks, by a combined score of 12-5.

Detroit on the other hand, has been the hottest team in the NHL after the Olympic break with an impressive stretch of their own going 12-2-1 since Canada won Gold in Vancouver.

This surge has pushed the Wings from 9th in the West to a solid 6th position and all but a certainty to continue their playoff qualification streak to 19 seasons. A victory tonight would give Detroit an almost insurmountable 8 point lead over the Calgary Flames in 9th, with only 5 games to play in the season.

Other Previews:

Winging It In Motown

As mentioned on FSD: Nightmare on Helm Street

Red Wings vs. Oilers; Preview for Friday Night

Revenge Served; Red Wings 2, Flames 1 Recap

It was a red-hot start for the Flamers, in stark contrast to the one they'd had the night before but they weren't able to build on the early goal, as the Wings slowly took control and in turn, control of the playoff race.

The Flames were quick to get on the board, as Craig Conroy nabbed his first goal in 2010 only 1:47 into the game to take a 1-0 lead.

The Red Wings then took over in the second piling the pressure on the Flames, but goalie, Miikka Kiprusoff, was equal to the task. The Wings first and only powerplay of the game came late in the second and it didn't get off to a great start as Curtis Glencross forced a breakaway early in the PK. In an attempt to stymie the chance, Jason Williams was forced to hook the streaking Glencross, resulting in a penalty shot. Jimmy Howard made the save and pumped his fist in relief which proved to be the turning point for the Wings.

40 seconds later, Pavel Datsyuk ties it up, to enter the final period all square.

After a big 4-minute penalty-kill for Detroit, in which Calgary mustered almost no offense, the third period was a stale-mate most of the way. The game looked destined for overtime until, with just 79 seconds remaining, Tomas Holmstrom tipped in a shot from Johan Franzen silencing the rabid Southern Albertan fans.

Jimmy Howard was able to withstand the barrage of the final minute to record his 27th win of the season and give Detroit a 3-point lead over the Flames with equal games remaining.

WOW Factor

The obvious turning point of this game was Howard's penalty shot save on Curtis Glencross. Without that, the Flames would've owned a 2-goal lead in a very tight game and the Wings would most likely be sitting out of the playoffs right now.

Special Teams

Only 16 PIM's were handed out in this game resulting in 4 powerplays but the Red Wings dominance of special teams was where the game was won. Going 1-1 on the PP and killing Calgary's 3 chances, including a 4-minute double-minor for high-sticking in the third period set up the victory.

In Net

- Jimmy Howard stopped 22 of 23 shots for Detroit including a penalty shot from Curtis Glenscross.

- Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 26 of 28 for Calgary.

Next...

Detroit heads to Kelowna for a few days before meeting the last-placed Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place on Friday night. Calgary will meet the Avs in Colorado on Wednesday.

Detroit Blast Wild 5-1

Two out of three ain't bad: Detroit came up big over Minnesota, Nashville loses 8-5 to the Sharks, but Calgary rolls on, shutting out the Senators, 2-0. All this means that Detroit remains out of the playoffs -- in 9th for now, but draws within a point of 7th-placed Nashville with all three teams having playing the same amount of games.

In this game, not always does the score reflect the game but in this case it was fairly accurate, as Detroit steam-rolled over the Wild, 5-1.

The Wings got off to a start quick which, in the end, set up the victory. Johan Franzen opened the scoring at 2:25 as the Wings piled the pressure on Wild goalie, Josh Harding, the puck barely exiting the Minnesota zone for the first five minutes. Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg added two more mid-way through the 1st to make it 3-0. Some hope came though, as Andrew Ebbett gave the Wild a chance, just 11 seconds before the 1st intermission as the puck went in off his skate making it 3-1.

Detroit controlled the game from that point on however, Howard shutting the Wild out the rest of the way with Miller adding a shorthanded goal and Franzen netting his second late in the game, to seal to win.

Henrik Zetterberg answered the call from his coach to be better, adding 2 assists to his 1st-period goal, to tie Pavel Datsyuk for total points this season for the Red Wings lead. Johan Franzen's 2 goals is also a welcome sight for Wings' fans. A hot Mule come April can decide the winner of a playoff series and all signs seem to show that Franzen can once again, be a hassle for defenders in the second season.

Chris Osgood's patient wait on the bench looks like it will continue as Jimmy Howard doesn't seem to be showing signs of faltering. Howard stopped 21 of 22 shots, but didn't need to be spectacular for the win with a lot of help from his skaters.

Detroit will play their last home game before a 3-game Western Canada road trip next week when they meet the Sabres at the Joe.

Red Wings Fail; 4-2 Flames

So close, yet so far; the Detroit Red Wings again fail to reach the lofty accomplishment of winning 3 games in a row. A feat even the best of the best are seldom able to achieve.

Now that the sarcastic ridiculing of the Wings inconsistency is behind me, let's take a look at the circumstances.

This loss is disappointing for a few reasons. Detroit had a lead in the 3rd period only to let it slip resulting in a loss that pushes the Wings out of the top eight in the West. It also means that in mid-March 2010 -- granted they weren't easy teams to beat, in Nashville, Chicago and Calgary -- Detroit has once again failed to win three straight games.

Consistency like this is of no use in the playoffs, so maybe sitting in ninth doesn't matter as much.

The good news for Wings' fans is that there is still much to be improved on. Key players like Zetterberg, Filppula, Stuart and Franzen had slightly off nights, but credit must be given to Calgary, who was solid and seemed pretty switched on for most of the game. Miikka Kiprusoff also had a stellar game for the Flames and out-played his opponent Jimmy Howard.

It also must be noted, that when the Red Wings play with energy, they play good hockey, particularly with their wins over Nashville and Chicago. The main concern is why that energy seems unsustainable for more than a few games.

For Detroit, Datsyuk and Holmstrom were the scorers, while Flames captain, Jarome Iginla broke his 20-game goal-less streak against Detroit, with Daymond Langkow, Rene Bourque and Chris Higgins rounding out the 4-2 result.

Calgary returns home to meet Ottawa on Thursday night, while the Red Wings remain at the Joe to visiting Minnesota. Fans of the Winged Wheel will also be paying attention to Nashville's visit to San Jose that same night.

Hungry Wings Edge Avs

It was a fairly impressive return to action for Detroit as they overcame the surprising, young Colorado Avalanche 3-2 with a full roster and a the desperate need for points.

Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen were impressive for the Wings, who definitely needed some help from their goaltender nightmares. Both Franzen and Holmstrom seen little action this season through injury with Franzen only playin in his seventh game of the season. "Homer" scored a goal as well as adding two assists while "the Mule" helped with a goal of his own.

Detroit showed they were hungry early on as they dominated the hapless Avalanche in their own building. Scoring chances were plentiful as they outshot their opponents 10-6 in the first frame and took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room. Apparently this was just due to a tilt in the ice as Colorado took control in the second period with two even-strength goals from young guns, T.J. Galliardi and Chris Stewart.

The 10th-placed Wings recovered in the final frame and regained their advantage on the eventual game-winning goal from Lidstrom on the powerplay.

Special teams seemed to be the difference in a game where few penalties were called. Detroit went 2/4 with the advantage whilst killing off both of Colorado's two powerplays.

Captain, Nicklas Lidstrom was the game's First Star, scoring his first road goal of the season from a beautiful feed from Pavel Datsyuk, and assisting on Franzen's 1st period tally.

Detroit shot 30 pucks at Craig Anderson, while Jimmy Howard was forced to stop 22 of 24 to get the win.

The Wings head home to face Olympic-Champion, Roberto Luongo, and the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.

Preview vs. San Jose; Kronwall out

After a grueling and, at times, disheartening road trip, the Red Wings return home with a chance to sweep a season series against the Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks and turn momentum to their favour heading into the Olympic break. Detroit's bid to get back into the playoff picture may be boosted by the addition of Tomas Holmstrom into the lineup.

"It was a big difference from yesterday to today,'' Holmstrom said. "It's going to be a big test for sure. I need to get these games. It's going to be a tough one for sure, but I may as well get into it right away.''

Brad May will skate in the pre-game warmups as a back-up should Holmstrom be unfit to action. Homer is recovering from a bruised left knee he sustained in Los Angeles last week.

Niklas Kronwall is also being troubled with knee problems. Since suffering a realtively minor sprain in November, he has had difficulty returning to full health and, although the condition of his knee is reported to be improving, he has been ruled out for tonight's clash with the Sharks.

"It feels better today than yesterday, so I'm taking a step in the right direction,'' Kronwall said.

Detroit will need to be at their best tonight after a less than impressive outing against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. They'll look to take advantage of a travelling road team, as the Sharks are on the second of back-to-back games tonight after a 3-0 shutout loss to Steve Mason and the Blue Jackets. Wings' fans might also take heart in knowing that in the 3 previous meetings this season between these two rivals, a much more undermanned Detroit team has won all three, two of them fairly easily.

Jimmy Howard is expected to start in goal once again.