Tomas Holmström
| Tomas Holmström | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 23 January 1973 Piteå, Sweden |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 203 lb (92 kg; 14 st 7 lb) |
| Position | 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 retired Swedish ice hockey left winger who played for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL), where he has won four Stanley Cup championships. He is widely considered as one of the best in the game at screening goalies and causing havoc in front of the net.[1][2]
Playing career
Holmström was first noticed by Red Wings scout Håkan Andersson in 1993 during a 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 drafted 257th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft and began playing for the Red Wings in 1996. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout Holmström returned to Sweden to play for his old team, Luleå HF in the Swedish elite league Elitserien.
On 7 April 2007, Holmström scored his 30th goal of the 2006–07 season against the Chicago Blackhawks, achieving the first 30 goal season of 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. On his day with the Cup, he had his cousin's daughter baptised in it.[4]
He was inducted into the Piteå Wall of Fame in 2006.
Initially Holmström was going to play in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. However, a knee injury sustained on 13 February 2010, in an NHL game against the Ottawa Senators prevented him from playing. It was announced on 14 February 2010 he would be replaced by friend and teammate Johan Franzén.[5] That announcement came from Tre Kronor's head coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson.
In 2009–10, he scored 25 goals (2nd to Pavel Datsyuk's 27, including a team-high 13 on the power play), and 45 points in 68 regular-season games. On 4 June 2010, he agreed on a two year deal to remain in Detroit.
On 12 February 2012, Holmström became only the 6th Red Wing and 272nd NHL player to play 1,000 games.[6]
After the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom at the end of the 2011-12 season, Tomas Holmstrom was the last active player from the 1996-97 and 1997-98 Stanley Cup winning Detroit teams to still play with the Detroit Red Wings.
On January 22, 2013, Tomas Holmstrom announced his retirement just hours before the Detroit Red Wings home opener against the Dallas Stars.[7] As of January 2013, Holmstrom held the following records with the Red Wings: sixth in most regular season games played, fourth in playoff games played, and 13th in points.[8]
Playing style
Holmström was known for standing in front of the goal to screen the opposing goaltender.[9] Because he had to withstand hits from pucks as well as his opponents in this position, he wore several extra pads to protect his body.[10] During a playoff series against the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2009, Detroit coach Mike Babcock said of Holmström, "I think there's (defensemen) out there who think they might actually get to him. That's just not possible."[11]
Because of 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 incorrectly called back because of his proximity to the 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").
Awards
- Elitserien gold medal with Luleå Hockey in 1996.
- Named to the Swedish All-Star Team in 1996.
- Gold medal at the Winter Olympics in 2006.
- Stanley Cup (Detroit Red Wings) in 1997, 1998, 2002, 2008.
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
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Sweden
| ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| Winter Olympics | ||
| Gold | 2006 Turin | |
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Sweden | WC | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 2002 | Sweden | Oly | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2004 | Sweden | WCH | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| 2006 | Sweden | Oly | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Senior int'l totals | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 32 | ||
See also
References
- ↑ St. James, Helene (2008-05-29). "McCarty, Draper, Osgood ... those who stay will be champions". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
- ↑ Sassone, Tim (2009-04-19). "Bowman sees more net crashing than years ago". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
- ↑ Manojlovic, Zoran (2005). "Håkan Andersson, scout extraordinaire". hockeysfuture.com. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
- ↑ "Wings' Holmstrom uses Stanley Cup in baptism". TSN. 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
- ↑ "Holmström missar OS - Johan Franzén ersätter". 14 February 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ↑ "Wings' four-time cup champion Holmstrom retires". National Hockey League. 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
- ↑ "Red Wings' Tomas Holmstrom hangs up his skates". USA TODAY Sports. 2013-01-22.
- ↑ "Wings' Holmstrom retires: 'I had the greatest job in the world'". The Detroit News. 2013-01-22.
- ↑ Grossman, Evan (2007). "Hand ... eye ... puck ... stick ... goal!". NHL.com. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
- ↑ Wigge, Larry (2006). "Cry havoc and let slip Tomas Holmstrom!". NHL.com. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Malik, George. "Holmstrom's upset with 'reputation' calls based on goalie theatrics". MLive. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
- ↑ Shelton, Keith. "Stanley Cup Finals: Tomas Holmstrom vs. the Refs". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
External links
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