Homer keeps on going

The Detroit warrior Tomas Holmström will be starting his 13th NHL season since he joined the league as a 23-year-old, but he says in an interview with Aftonbladet that he isn't seeing the end just yet.

- To continue until I'm 40 years old would be nice. I'm just 36 years so far and it's still damn fun to play hockey. Maybe I can try to beat Chris Chelios record, he is 47 years old, Holmström says.

Eleven more years? You got to be kidding me?
- (Laugh). I think it's incredibly fun to play. Sure, I'm going towards the end of my career, but this is a lifestyle and I want to keep on going for a couple of more years.

It's in the NHL that Holmström wants to spend those years and he doubts he will return to Sweden to finish his career. He enjoying being with the Red Wings incredibly much and the same goes for his life outside the club.

- Our kids are born and have grown up in Detroit, and we will probably stay here after my retirement. Right now I'm applying for a Green Card and to play in Luleå and Sweden is something I doubt I will do.

Holmström was part of the Swedish gold medal winning team in the 2006 Olympics. The upcoming Olympics in Vancouver are closing in very fast and that is something Holmström is really looking forward to.

While he loves talking about the Olympics, it becomes obvious that the 2009 Stanley Cup final is something he doesn't like talking about when Aftonbladet ask if he has recovered from it.

- No, absolutely not. I almost feel like hanging up now when you start talking about it. That's how hard it is.

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- I know how fun it is to win and we had the chance to do it at home ice... It still hurts. And that it will do for a good while yet.

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Öhlund looking for a change of scenery

- Plainly, I want to to try something new. It's going to be fun to see what happens this summer and which NHL teams that are interested.

That is what Vancouver's Swedish defenseman Mattias Öhlund said to Norrländska Socialdemokraten about his future. Öhlund, who has spent all his 11 NHL seasons with the Canucks, will be testing the market on July 1. He doesn't have a favorite team to end up on though. At least not one that he is willing to admit about.

- No, not really. This is a family decision, where a lot factors will play in. But at my age, it would of course be fun to end up in a club with a decent chance at winning the Stanley Cup.

Detroit together with Tomas Holmström?
- That would of course be fun. But it's nothing we have talked about.

To explain that last question: Holmström and Öhlund are from Piteå, a town in northern Sweden, and both have played on the same teams (Piteå HC and Luleå HF) back in Sweden.

Öhlund also says in the article that he will keep on playing in the NHL for another 3-4 years and then head back home to Sweden. Either to his hometown Piteå or to Stockholm, where he has a lot of his friends.
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