Tomas Holmstrom

The Detroit Red Wings had some pieces in place in the 1990s, but it wasn't til a few great acquisitions solidified their defense and bolstered their third and fourth forward lines.

The Red Wings were solid as a team; with the drafting of forwards Steve Yzerman and Sergei Federov, and defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, they were well on their way to success.

But the Red Wings needed more than just those three individuals to win a Stanley Cup.

Yesterday Detroit played host to the New York Rangers.

Detroit hadn't scored a goal since Wednesday's 7-5 game with 33.5 seconds left in the third period.

For one of the league's highest scoring teams, that was something that was unheard of.

Detroit welcomed back Pavel Datsyuk after missing 19 games and he paid immediate dividends.

The NHL All-Star Game has come and gone, and Nick Lidstrom showed us once again that he is brilliant by picking the correct players to play for him and get a win.

Lidstrom scored his first NHL hat trick earlier this year, and the win over the weekend has solidified him as an NHL best, winning the first all-star game that dealt with a player draft.

The resume just keeps getting thicker.

But now that the fun and games is over with, back to the task at hand.

If you are a Detroit Red Wings fan, you are counting down the days until Pavel Datsyuk and Dan Cleary come back.

But now, you are marking on your calendar when Brad Stuart, Chris Osgood and Mike Modano come back.

And after yesterday, if you thought things weren't going to get worse, they did.

After being down 2-0 to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jimmy Howard went down to an injury and there is still no time table for his return.

The Red Wings are hot.

Red hot, if you will.

But on Wednesday, something seemed a little off in the game against the St. Louis Blues.

Heading into the third period of a 3-3 games, coach Mike Babcock decided to do his best clown act and started juggling.

No, not bowling pins or flaming sticks, or even hockey pucks for that matter, but his lines.

The Detroit Red Wings are off to a strong start this year, going 5-1-1 in their first seven games.

They are tied for fifth in the NHL with 23 goals scored and tied for fourth with only 17 goals against.

After seven games, Detroit's second line of Todd Bertuzzi, Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula seems to be clicking on all aspects.

Franzen has scored in every game he has played in but one, which is exactly what coach Mike Babcock loves to see after the injury-plagued season the Mule had last year in Detroit.

As the Detroit Red Wings prepare to open the 2010-11 season at home against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, they received some unexpected news from the NHL regarding a rule change that references Tomas Holmstrom, specifically.

So as the NHL season nears its beginning, the fire and passion that unites us all starts to grow within us and gets our motors jumping.

Being a Red Wings fan sometimes can be easy. Heck, it can be VERY easy. Every year we don't have to worry about if our team is going to be making the playoffs or just missing out. It's a known fact that they will be playing hockey come mid-April.

The Detroit Red Wings, as we all know, have always been a constant force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference.

When Detroit went through its injuries  last year, it was a lot less Detroit Red Wings and a lot more Detroit Griffins.

At one point in time, Detroit had a total of ten regulars out of the lineup due to injuries, including top players Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, and Tomas Holmstrom.

The Detroit Red Wings have re-signed UFA forward Tomas Holmstrom to a two-year, $3.75 million contract.

The deal will pay Holmstrom $2.25 million in 2010-11 (his salary from last year) and $1.5 million in 2011-12, for an extremely cap-friendly hit of $1.875 million per season.

Drafted by the Red Wings in 1994 as the 257th overall pick, Holmstrom was not expected to have a particularly noteworthy career.