Tomas Holmstrom is not a star hockey player. He's not very fast, he can't skate all that well, he doesn't even have a great shot.
There is, however, one thing that Holmstrom can do that makes him invaluable to the Red Wings. He does this one thing better than anyone else in the NHL. That one thing is screening the goaltender, and Holmstrom has done it for over a decade.
That's 10+ years of making goaltender's life miserable by anticipating their movements and blocking their vision from the puck. Holmstrom has scored more goals than anyone with his skill set and has the right to score simply by knocking in deflected pucks near the net.
Search YouTube and you'll find plenty of examples for how Holmstrom operates. He stands just outside the crease, moving with the goaltender without seeing him. This, as you can imagine, frustrates the hell out of any goaltender, as it creates a struggle for the goalie to see the puck.
Tomas Holmstrom has done this for his entire career, but as the season went on, and especially into the playoffs, he has been increasingly restricted.
In Game 4 against Dallas, Holmstrom was standing outside the crease, screening the goalie as he always does when Pavel Datsyuk scored. The goal was waived off. The only explanation that was given was that Holmstrom's butt was in the crease. Huh?
Last night, in Game 1 against Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Finals, Holmstrom was again outside of the crease when Lidstrom scored. This goal was immediately waived off as well. The explanation for this one was that Holmstrom hit Marc-Andre Fluery with his stick.
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The official NHL rulebook has this to say about goaltender interference:
"Rule 78. B
If an attacking player initiates any contact with a goalkeeper, other than incidental contact, while the goalkeeper is outside his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed."
Let's look at the waived off goal in Game 4 against Dallas. Holmstrom was completely outside of the crease, Marty Turco was inside the crease. Holmstrom's butt was ruled to have blocked Turco's vision and so interference was the call and the goal was waived off. There wasn't contact against Turco. This doesn't fit the rule for goaltender interference.
How about Lidstrom's goal last night? Holmstrom was outside the crease and made contact with Fluery with his stick, but take a closer look. Fluery skated out of the crease to run into Holmstrom's stick.
Fluery initiated the contact and so this must be called incidental contact, so according to the rules this also was not goaltender interference. Yet, the goal was waived off AND Holmstrom was issued a penalty.
Both goals were waived off by referee Dan O'Halloran, who incidently also waived off a goal due to Holmstrom in the regular season. O'Halloran clearly either doesn't understand Rule 78.B or just has a personal vendetta against Tomas Holmstrom. Either way, something has to happen here.
In Game 4 against Dallas, the unjustly waived-off goal took the wind out of Detroit's sails. Dallas then scored the "first" goal and Detroit couldn't recover.
In Game 1 against Pittsburgh, Detroit didn't let the waived off goal affect their game and still won handily. However, what if Pittsburgh scored first? Detroit fans know the wings, like most teams, play better with a lead and it could have thrown the game into Pittsburgh's favor.
So what happens now? Holmstrom's confidence has to be significantly decreased by these recent events. Without the ability to screen the goaltender, Holmstrom is ineffective and might as well hang up the skates.
One of two things can happen here to make Detroit fans, and fans of any team with a netfront player like Holmstrom happy.
1.) Create a goaltender interference rule that is clear as crystal and interpreted the same way by every referee. The current rule is obviously too subjective and open to interpretation.
2.) Allow instant replay in the NHL. In cases like Game 4 against Dallas and Game 1 against Pittsburgh, the play would be sent to a play judge in Toronto and ruled fair or not there. Instant replay of course isn't perfect, but it would be an improvement over the status quo.
I'm not one who would call conspiracy, I'm not one who would say the refs want team X to win. But I do demand accountability from the referees as any fan should. Dan O'Halloran should at the very least be suspended for the remainder of the finals. Can we expect accountability with Gary Bettman in charge? probably not.
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3 months ago
Seriously, enough with these referee conspiracy theories. Holmstrom is not a victim of bad officiating, he's a perpetrator of questionable tactics in front of the net, contrary to what your 'working class hero' portrayal would have the reader believe.
Holmstrom is just as much of an agitator as Draper or McCarty and refs have not failed to take notice of his many subtle devices (including 'accidentally' bumping goalies as he moves left to right as they do, as well as 'innocently' skating backwards into them with a hapless look on his face that turns to surprise when he's greeted with a blocker to the small of the back in hopes that the refs will think he's just too simple to intentionally nudge a goaltender). I commend O' Halloran for not buying into the innocent act, just like I'm sure he won't from Jarkko Ruutu.
As for your claim of him 'scoring more goals than anyone in his skill set has the right to', I'll still pick Ryan Smyth for my hockey pools in the 'digger' category.
from 3 months ago
I know Holmstrom isn't perfect and about %50 of his waived off goals are justified. I know Homer tries to be sneaky and pushes a bit too far half the time. There were 6 goals that were waived off during the regular season due to Holmstrom causing goaltender interference. I think 3 or 4 of them were justified. It seems to be just the ones that Dan O'Hallaran waived off where there just wasn't anything there to justify waiving the goal off.
I mean, these are the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Finals for crying out loud. If you're going to waive off a goal, you'd best be damn sure you're getting it right. When you start disallowing goals simply due to reputation, you aren't doing your job. You're just being lazy and discriminatory then, and that's not what being a referee entails.
3 months ago
"How about Lidstrom's goal last night? Holmstrom was outside the crease and made contact with Fluery with his stick, but take a closer look. Fluery skated out of the crease to run into Holmstrom's stick."
It's Fleury btw.
The call last night is because Holstrom put his stick between the legs of the goalie.
Maybe Holstrom should develop a new hockey skill set?
from 3 months ago
We both screwed up. Sorry for misspelling Fleury. But you misspelled Holmstrom.
We're both going to have different views on what happened. I'll try to be as objective as possible being that I'm a Red Wings fan, but its really hard for me not to think that Holmstrom is being forced out.
3 months ago
great article keith. agree 100%. i see these as signs of the nhl's financial problems though. the disallowed goal versus the star prevented a possible sweep. and we know how much money the nhl would've lost if the red wings, one of the most recognizable teams in the nhl, finished up the series so quickly. had the stars won game 6, i have no doubt that the wings would've benefited from some questionable calls in order to ensure they got into the finals. but at 3-0, the league could definitely gamble the wings would wind up there, and get a couple extra games in the coffers too.
now, the wings are playing the penguins and the nhl's "savior" in crosby. take a look at some of the pictures of red wings goals in game 1 which are around on the internet. look for referee faces. they are actually frowning. not dispassionate. not focused on the next task. frowning.
the ideal situation for the league would be for the wings to make the finals but play a lot of games to get there, and then ultimately lose to sid the kid and the penguins. don't feel too secure with a game 1 win. there will be a tilting of the ice to ensure at least a competitive series, if not a crosby crowning.
3 months ago
By definition, a goal disallowed by goaltender interference is unreviewable by the NHL. I believe this has to change. Holmstrom's last two "offenses" were clearly miscalled. Five bucks says NHL will review such calls next season.
BTW, I was stuck at the Tigers game during Game One, catching bits and pieces of the game through the crappy reception on my radio. Hubby and nephew were checking scores on their cell phones. The cell phones had the score 1-0 in favor of the Pens for about 5 minutes, attributing the goal to Ruutu. C'est bizzare!
from 3 months ago
yeah! NHL.com also had the Pens up 1-0 with the goal to Ruutu. Wishful thinking perhaps?
3 months ago
I am pretty sure it was Kelly Sutherland who screwed up the call against Dallas. Thus leading back to a NHL conspiracy to defeat the Redwings and allow their Golden Child Sidney Crosby ascend easily to the top.
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