Holmstrom becomes 6th Wing to play 1,000 games

Tomas Holmstrom has taken a lot of abuse in front of the net during his 15 NHL seasons, screening goaltenders with his wide body, deflecting shots with his tremendous hand-eye coordination and retrieving pucks with his dogged determination.

Holmstrom has persevered through the pain to play 1,000 games. He became the sixth player in franchise history to reach that milestone Friday, as the Wings defeated the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in shootout for their 19th consecutive home victory.

A long shot to make it to the NHL as Detroit's 257th pick in the 1994 entry draft (10th round), Holmstrom arrived in North America in 1996 likened to former Red Wing Dino Ciccarelli for his feistiness around the net, Holmstrom soon developed into the kind of net-front man every team covets.

"He's got great hockey sense, he knows how to play, knows how to protect the puck, knows how to get it back, where to stand," Wings Coach Mike Babcock said. "He's not an elite skater and yet he's an elite competitor. It just goes to show you players come in all different sizes, shapes and abilities and Homer's managed to have a good enough package to play a long time."

Holmstrom joined Gordie Howe (1,687), Alex Delvecchio (1,549), Nicklas Lidstrom (1,549), Steve Yzerman (1,514) and Kris Draper (1,137) as the only players to appear in 1,000 games as a Wing.

He'll play in No. 1,001 Sunday at home against Philadelphia, as the Wings look to tie the NHL record for consecutive home wins, shared by the 1929-30 Bruins and 1975-76 Flyers.

Holmstrom still has a strong desire to play. But he is 39 and his banged-up knees require bi-annual injections of Synvisc. Holmstrom, who is in the final year of his contract, appears to be on his last legs.

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