Tomas Holmstrom to officially retire

[RedWingsNow*]

Hard to say about "best net-front" this or that.
Netfront means something different today than it did 20 years ago and 40 years ago.
I'd say Cicarelli, Andreychuk, Kerr, Esposito, Steve Shutt.

Wings have had quite a few in recent years. Homer. Dino. Ray Sheppard

 

[Heaton]

Hard to say about "best net-front" this or that.
Netfront means something different today than it did 20 years ago and 40 years ago.
I'd say Cicarelli, Andreychuk, Kerr, Esposito, Steve Shutt.

Wings have had quite a few in recent years. Homer. Dino. Ray Sheppard

In the past 10 years or so, if people were making a reference about how to play in front of the opposing goalie the examples started and ended with Holmstrom (and some people would mention Ryan Smyth). Does that mean he was the best ever? Probably not. But he was one of the most effective in NHL history with being effective and getting in the goalies head.

 

[RedWingsNow*]

In Detroit it did.
And he achieved fame for it, in part, because he did very little else well.
Where as guys like Ryan Smythe were better all around hockey players and weren't known for one trick only

 

[Heaton]

In Detroit it did.
And he achieved fame for it, in part, because he did very little else well.
Where as guys like Ryan Smythe were better all around hockey players and weren't known for one trick only

Even national and hometown broadcasts always mentioned Holmstrom when talking about a net front presence and how to get in the head of goalies. Obviously if Holmstrom was on some crappy team his entire career it wouldn't have been that way. But Detroit has been so good for so long that a lot of players get looked to as the standard.

 

[Brick Top]

Always appreciated Homer's selfless style of play and willingness to take a beating to create a scoring chance- definitely wish he had called it a career 1 or 2 seasons ago to open up a forward slot for a younger, more productive guy, but wish him all the best in his post-playing career. Oh, and in a sport full of players who are dead from the neck up when it comes to using only tired cliches in interviews, I liked seeing his personality and sense of humor. He'll probably be missed way more in the locker room than on the ice.

 

[Henkka]

I was interesting to see how every Swedish WJC line had those screeners at WJC. That Homer-tradition is living very well in Sweden right now.

Patric Hörnqvist is imo the best screener/net-front player at the moment. Another Swede who copied that style from our Swede. Fredrik Modin was also great. And Homer copied his style from his childhood Swedish league hero (don't remember the name). They have long traditions for the net-front play in Sweden.

When looking nowadays NHL, goalies steal easily every puck they can see. Screening comes more and more important year after year. Right timing is critical, not just standing there. Intentional wide-shot from Lidström that Homer tips in, those were always one of my favourite moments.

Have a nice retirement years Homer!

You were always my ultimate hero with all the weaknesses you had in your play.

 

[Bench]

Even national and hometown broadcasts always mentioned Holmstrom when talking about a net front presence and how to get in the head of goalies. Obviously if Holmstrom was on some crappy team his entire career it wouldn't have been that way. But Detroit has been so good for so long that a lot of players get looked to as the standard.

Absolutely. Holmstrom became synonymous with the Wings power-play and everybody knew it. Watching different feeds on Center Ice, it was a constant talking point on how the PK would have to make sure the goalie could see the puck.

On interesting fact from the NHL.com write up:
"his 122 power-play goals are third in team history"

What an accomplishment! With all the amazing players that have been in Detroit, Holmstrom was easily one of the better power-play guys.

 

[McClelland]

Respect! Taken so much beat for his team year after year.

 

[RedWingsNow*]

Even national and hometown broadcasts always mentioned Holmstrom when talking about a net front presence and how to get in the head of goalies. Obviously if Holmstrom was on some crappy team his entire career it wouldn't have been that way. But Detroit has been so good for so long that a lot of players get looked to as the standard.

If Holmstrom was a more complete player, they wouldn't only talk about "his netfront present"
But since that's all he did, that's all they talked about.

Was Homer better than Smyth in front of the net? I'm sure other teams have their nominees too.

 

[irishock]

Homer revolutionized the game.

 

[needzmoarcleary]

Homer revolutionized the game.

I think that is a bit much but he was Great at what he did. He will definitely be missed on the ice, locker room, and his interviews.

 

[nik jr]

Best net front presence ever?

no

i don't think homer was better than phil esposito, tim kerr, andreychuk, ciccarelli, etc.

NHL-goaltenders reacting to NHL is Back and Homer is retiring on the same day:

hilarious

i saw that on the main board's gif thread.

Absolutely. Holmstrom became synonymous with the Wings power-play and everybody knew it. Watching different feeds on Center Ice, it was a constant talking point on how the PK would have to make sure the goalie could see the puck.

On interesting fact from the NHL.com write up:
"his 122 power-play goals are third in team history"

What an accomplishment! With all the amazing players that have been in Detroit, Holmstrom was easily one of the better power-play guys.

from hockey-reference.com:

yzerman: 202
lidstrom: 132
holmstrom: 122
fyodorov: 117
shanahan: 115
zetterberg: 84
ogrodnick: 77
gordie howe: 76
datsyuk: 67
larson: 67
delvecchio: 63

PP goals (and SH goals) have only been officially recorded since '64 season.

ted lindsay, for example, scored 335g here, but is listed at only 1 PP goal, b/c he played only 1 season here (at age 39) after '64.

i wonder how many gordie howe had in reality. he scored almost 800 goals here. from some studies posted on the history of hockey board, howe was one of the most productive PP players of his era. i think he played at the front early in his career, but on the point later in his career, probably especially after red kelly left.

delvecchio also played the point, but i think it is very unlikely that only 63 of his 456g were on PP.

norm ullman was not a big scorer on PP, but it is very unlikely that only 31 of his 324g with DRW were scored on PP.


wikipedia has howe at 211, but i don't know if that is right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Detroit_Red_Wings_records

same problems exist for SH scoring. howe was one of the very best SH scorers of his era, but officially has just 11 SH goals.

 

[Heaton]

If Holmstrom was a more complete player, they wouldn't only talk about "his netfront present"
But since that's all he did, that's all they talked about.

Was Homer better than Smyth in front of the net? I'm sure other teams have their nominees too.

And he was excellent at it. Which is why they talked about him. The best is irrelevant, there is no way to quantify it.

 

[RedWingsNow*]

And he was excellent at it. Which is why they talked about him. The best is irrelevant, there is no way to quantify it.

I agree with everything you just said.
I think it's hard to say whether Homer was the best netfront presence ever. The way Homer played in front of the net wasn't the same as it was in the early 90s, andd 80s and 60s.
They there share of goals on deflections in the 70s and 80s too. Shots were a little slower, generally. Players also had less equipment. The netfront guy was there to screen and tip. But it wasn't so obviously defined as it was today. Those guys surely went out there to cause chaos, screen the goalie, get deflections and bang in loose pucks. But they didn't turn screening the goalie into a fulltime job.

When Sean Avery turned around and looked at Marty... to me, it was the logical evolution of the screening game, as absurd as it was. At some point, going out there to block the goalie's vision isn't really hockey, it's a wart on the game that you can't really get rid of because people understand you have to go to the net to score.

 

[Brick Top]

Absolutely. Holmstrom became synonymous with the Wings power-play and everybody knew it. Watching different feeds on Center Ice, it was a constant talking point on how the PK would have to make sure the goalie could see the puck.

On interesting fact from the NHL.com write up:
"his 122 power-play goals are third in team history"

What an accomplishment! With all the amazing players that have been in Detroit, Holmstrom was easily one of the better power-play guys.

Nice to see you're still rocking Gob in the avatar- almost like you're welcoming me back (used to go by Turkish). Anyway, I had no idea he was that high on the list for PPG's, definitely impressive. Seems obvious that if he wasn't very effective in his niche PP role on the team, he wouldn't have lasted nearly as long on the team.

I will say that I won't miss all of the disallowed goals he caused for Detroit, whether they were legit calls or BS ones based on his reputation with officials. I've tried to track down a stat on his career total for disallowed goals caused but couldn't find it- he'd have to be high on the all time list.