Wings' Howard shares special All-Star weekend with young sons

SAN JOSE -- Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard knew exactly what the All-Star Game was about for him this second time around.
It didn't matter that the Atlantic Division lost to the eventual champion Metropolitan Division, 7-4.

All that mattered to Howard, 34, is that his family had a good time in San Jose.
"It was a lot of fun," Howard said in the post-game interview room at SAP Center. "It was nice to make some saves. I just think the whole weekend, it's been so cool, especially with my family being here, with my boys. It's been really special. It's going to be one of those moments that we'll be able to share for the rest of our lives."

Howard's young sons, James IV, 7, and Henry, 4, are old enough now to know what their dad's job is and to appreciate some of the other players around the league.
"I think just talking to the guys," Howard said of his sons' favorite part of the weekend. "Henry's pretty hopped up on sugar right now so his mouth's just running in there. Hopefully he's not bugging anyone too much right now."
The boys got photographs with stars like Toronto's Auston Matthews, autographs from the teams' mascots and even played mini sticks with Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, whose locker was next to Howard's in the dressing room.
Instagram from @jimmyhowardofficial: Thank you @auston\_matthews for taking a photo with these 3 huge fans
"He's a great guy," Howard said of Vasilevskiy. "It was an honor to share the net with him. He's gonna be an absolute stud for years to come in this league. It was an honor."
Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who coached the Atlantic Division team, had the players decide the lineups by posting a card for them to sign.
"It was set up in threes and that's how we came up with the lineup," Cooper said. "It was a little more difficult because we only had two defensemen. But it worked out great. We had the veteran guys that got to start, they were all together. They had no idea that it was going on but that's how we came up with it."
That is also how it happened that Vasilevskiy started the first half and Howard the second.
"There were two lines, one above the other, and the guy that signed the first one was the first one," Cooper said. "Vasy started because he signed it."
Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 13 shots in the first half and Howard gave up four goals on 13 shots in the second half.
Howard stoned Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby on a breakaway at 2:59 and then stopped New York Islanders young star Mathew Barzal on the rebound.

But Crosby being Crosby, he managed to get a goal on Howard at 3:37, assisted by his Penguins teammate Kris Letang.

Letang scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway at 6:22.
"It's nothing new," Howard said of having Crosby and Letang bearing down on him. "It was a cool experience. I'm just very fortunate that I was able to participate in it this year."
Howard also stopped Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux on a breakaway.
Now that he's in his mid-30s, Howard appreciates moments like these even more than he did when he first appeared in an All-Star Game in 2012.
"Whenever you get to play in one of these games it's special and it's a great way to honor your organization and your teammates," Howard said. "And because I am getting older, it was really awesome to be here and talk to guys that I've played with before and make new friends."
Many of the players Howard already knew were ones he had played against in the minors like Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne or with USA Hockey.
"I enjoyed seeing Pekka and Marc-Andre (Fleury), Eichs (Jack Eichel), Johnny Hockey (Gaudreau)," Howard said. "I could name a lot more but it was really cool just to be able to sit down and talk to them again."
While Howard, Rinne and Fleury are part of the group of veterans still playing at a high level, there is a group of young players like Eichel, 22, and Gaudreau, 25, who are bringing in lots of new fans.
Howard said he is impressed by all of the amazing young players in the league.
"They're not afraid to do anything," Howard said. "I remember when I was a young guy coming into the Red Wings dressing room, I didn't say boo. Now they come and they command respect and they're great guys on top of that. It's kind of a changing of the guard. Hockey's in really good hands with how talented these young guys are."
It was also fun for Howard to play in a place he used to know well when the Wings were in the Western Conference.
"I love playing here," Howard said. "Even in the playoffs it was awesome how loud this building would get. I remember it just being deafening. They love their Sharks. It's a cool place to play."

Cooper, who also coached Wings defenseman Mike Green in last year's All-Star Game in Tampa, said he enjoyed getting to know Howard this year.
"Howie was great," Cooper said. "Everybody marvels at the skill of all the position players, and you look at the scores and they're high scores and they think, well, there was no goaltending. Let's be honest, the ones who are the stars are the goaltenders because every scoring chance is a Triple-A chance. Especially in our game, they weren't scoring on that first chance, it was the second and third ones that were the ones that were going in the net, where the goaltender's practically helpless.
"There's a reason why he was in this game. He showed it tonight. I thought he was fantastic."
Howard also appreciated learning more about Cooper, who is very good friends with Wings coach Jeff Blashill.
"He's a great guy," Howard said. "He's laid-back but Blash is laid-back, too. He reminds me of him a little bit. More intense when he's in the building but he's also got that laid-back personality. I can see why they're such good friends."
Now that the All-Star festivities are over, Howard plans to take his boys to the aquarium during the bye week before returning to Detroit for the second half of the season.
"The NHL season is a grind," Howard said. "Playing the 82-game schedule with all the travel, the back-to-backs, it's kind of nice to be able to have this bye week so guys can get refreshed and make a hard push.
"Just stringing together wins. Finding ways not to shoot ourselves in the foot. It seems like we've been prone to do that here a little bit. For us it's not self-imploding. It's going out there and playing the right way. When we play the right way, we're a good hockey team. We gotta do it more on a consistent basis daily."

NHL HONORS WOMEN'S HOCKEY PLAYERS: The NHL showed their appreciation for U.S. Women's National Team members Kendall Coyne Schofield and Brianna Decker, plus Canadian Women's National Team members Renata Fast and Rebecca Johnston, who starred in the skills competition and at the 2019 NHL Fan Fair.
The league is donating $25,000 in each of their names to the charities or hockey programs of their choice.
Detroit fans will get a chance to see all four players at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday, Feb. 17 when Team USA and Team Canada play in the final game of a three-game Rivalry Series.

Tickets are available at 313Presents.com, Ticketmaster.com and at the Little Caesars Arena box office.