DALLAS -- A few days ago, Dallas Stars goaltender Marty Turco made an interesting observation about Tomas Holmstrom - his primary nemesis in the NHL's Western Conference final against the Detroit Red Wings.
Turco called Holmstrom "a squirrelly man, the weakest strongest guy out there" - and even though that sounded contradictory at first blush, you knew exactly what he meant.
Not the "squirrelly man" part, because Holmstrom is actually a pretty engaging fellow, but the part about "weakest strongest" perfectly encapsulates what the Red Wings forward does so well - and why he can be such a major irritant to goaltenders all around the NHL, not just to Turco.
On one level, Holmstrom is so stocky and strong on his feet that he's difficult to move from the front of the net - that is, when he doesn't want to get moved.
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That's where he's at his strongest.
But if he's looking for a reason to "accidentally" get pushed into the goaltender - or into any position that's an advantage for him or a disadvantage for the netminder - he can be ridiculously easy to move.
That's where he's at is weakest.
Suddenly, whenever contact from the defenceman takes him into an advantageous position, Holmstrom is off his feet, stumbling backwards into the goaltender, arms akimbo, totally out of control. That is his gift, sometimes, when he wants to, it takes a bulldozer to push him aside. Other times, a feather does the job nicely.
Holmstrom has honed his methods so well over the years that CBC analyst Don Cherry now repeatedly insists that no one does the distracting pest routine better, not even his beloved Ryan Smyth, the Colorado Avalanche forward.
Another of Holmstrom's popular techniques is to position himself with his feet outside the blue paint of the goal crease, which is where the referees, out of necessity, must direct their attention. However, Holmstrom will occasionally drop down into what amounts to a squat. With his back turned towards the goaltender, Holmstrom will stick his rear-end straight out into the belly of the goaltender, and in doing so, his backside crosses the imaginary plane of the goal crease.
That was the call referee Kelly Sutherland made on Wednesday night in the Stars' 3-1 win over the Red Wings, which cost Detroit the first goal of the game and ultimately kept Dallas alive in the series. Sutherland ruled that while Holmstrom's feet were in a perfectly legal position, it was the proximity of his backside to Turco's face that prevented the Stars' goalie from stopping Pavel Datsyuk's shot. Goalie interference, in other words.
Holmstrom does this a lot. Replays, however, suggested that the one time he was called for it, he wasn't actually guilty of the offence.
But you can be sure that after Holmstrom got away with a goal that should have been disallowed in the first game of the series - when he really was deep in Turco's crease - the Stars planted a seed with NHL hockey operations, asking them to watch for the sneaky subtle ways in which Holmstrom makes himself a distraction.
This is not the same as New York Rangers pest Sean Avery, camping out in front of New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, waving his arms like a railway flagman. Holmstrom is far more circumspect. If you didn't know better - or that this is what he's been doing for more than a decade now - you might think it was all just a convenient accident.
It isn't though. He's thought all of his moves through, and he practises them all the time, and usually gets away with a lot because he's so crafty about straddling the line between what is legal and what isn't.
Like him or not, Holmstrom's presence has played a significant factor in the series, which Detroit leads 3-1. The Red Wings have a chance to wrap it up tomorrow afternoon at home and advance to their first Stanley Cup final since 2002.
It wasn't immediately clear if two days between games would strengthen Dallas's resolve, or simply prolong the agony. The Stars, who stayed at home for an extra day yesterday and will travel to Detroit today, will have to overcome their mediocre recent history at Joe Louis Arena.
Turco is still looking for his first career victory there (0-9-2, regular season and playoff); on the other hand, there is always a first time. The Stars played what looked like a stress-free game on Wednesday.
Knowing the odds against a comeback were long, they played their most complete game of the series and, for a change, scored a couple of timely goals. In short, they took the first step, but they understand that the next three will probably not be as easy.
"We needed a thread of life," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "Now we've got a thread of life. The two days off will really help us - we've got some momentum and we've got to use that to our advantage now. You go in there and steal a game out of there. Now you've got it to 3-2. Now the ball's rolling the right way - and we'll see what happens."
