Detroit — Early in any conversation you get the sense Jimmy Howard is happy, content and greatly enjoying retirement.
Howard, 37, was an unrestricted free agent last summer but was not brought back by the Red Wings, and he didn’t have his heart set on playing anywhere else.
As the pandemic raged on and the NHL season was delayed, it became clear to Howard what his best option was.
Retirement, and not having anyone shooting pucks at him.
Howard retired in January with 543 games played (523 starts), a 246-196-70 record, 2.62 goals-against average and .912 save percentage and 24 shutouts. Many of those numbers rank among the Red Wings’ and American-born goaltenders’ all-time career-best lists.
These days, Howard finds himself playing taxi to his hockey-playing boys, as well as being their coach — and enjoying the coaching part even more than he suspected.
Howard still watches the game, watches his former teammates and believes the Red Wings’ organization is on its way to better days.
The News’ Ted Kulfan recently caught up with Howard to talk about his retirement, his career and the memories he has within the game.
(Note: Some questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.)
►Question: How is retirement treating you? Are you enjoying it?
►Answer: Loving it. Obviously it has its challenges, not only for myself but for the whole family. Guess what, dad is home all the time now. It never used to be really like that. So it’s been an adjustment but I was lucky my boys are old enough (James will be 10 and Henry 7 within the next couple months) to be involved in hockey and I was able to jump right in and coach for them. That kind of filled my hockey void.
I am with them six or so days at the rink. I’ve been busy with hockey and I absolutely love the challenge of teaching the game to these young boys and girls. I love hockey so much and I want to share that with these kids.
►Q. Those are good ages for you to really impact them as far as the game. The coaching part of it, you’ve really jumped into I’ve heard and it seems like you really enjoy it. Would you consider …
►A. Would I see myself coaching in the pro game? I’ve always said absolutely not, but at this point in time I’m leaving all options open. I’m not sure what I want to do still. I’m giving myself to the fall before I make a decision on what is going to be the next step.
But I just love coaching the kids. I love the challenge. For me, I know how I want to say something, but saying it to a professional or college or junior player (is different). But for these kids, you have to simplify it and they all might not get it. So the challenge of saying it in a different way where the light bulb goes off and they say “I get it,” I find that really, really gratifying.
They can get so frustrated with themselves with doing something wrong, and it might not be their fault. It’s probably my fault and the way I’m explaining it. But I find so much joy in the smiles on their faces and the excitement when they understand something. It’s really cool to see.
►Q. Just the excitement in your voice …
►A. Don’t get me wrong, Ted. I can’t wait for the season to end. I need a break (laughter).
►Q. Did you miss going down to Little Caesars Arena? It seems like with a lot of guys, it’s not until the second season that retirement really hits. What did you miss most?
►A. I missed being around the guys in the dressing room. I missed going on the road and having the team dinners, or going out with meals with just the guys. I missed that — I still do miss it.
The only other thing I missed is playing in front of the fans. There’s no other rush than going out there on the ice and playing in front of 20,000 people, no matter how the game unfolds. It’s still so cool to know you’re going out there and all eyes are on us.
►Q. I called you in May or June of last year for a story, and it seemed as if you didn’t know what you were going to do. I don’t think the Wings’ decision was known quite yet. Other teams may have been interested, I suppose. Were you not quite sure yet or when did you know you had had enough hockey?
►A. I want to say it was the first week of December. (Earlier on) I still wanted to play. I wanted to get a job and still had my agent out there working the phones and seeing what was viable. But the problem was the longer the pandemic went on, it was do I really want to do this?
I’m was going to have to move away because Detroit was no longer an option. If I go to Canada, I may not see my family for six or seven months. There were so many question marks about everything, even in the States. If I went to a team like New Jersey or New York, would I still be able to see my family?
►Q. But was there one incident?
►A. The one thing that finalized it was the first week of December. I was on the ice with my goalie coach and I was getting hit by pucks and I was like, “This is not fun at all.” The light bulb went off and I just didn’t want to get hit by pucks anymore.
I skated over to my coach and said, “Listen, I’ll stick with it one last session, but I’m taking the rest of the week off and I will call you over the weekend.” I came home and I put my stuff in the garage and it was kind of I don’t really want to do this anymore.
►Q. Have you put the gear back on for whatever reason, kid’s practice or anything?
►A. The only time I touched the gear was when I took it from my locker in the garage to the basement.
►Q. Was that kind of scary in a way? Hockey, the goaltending equipment, it’s been such a big part of your life.
►A. I was at peace with it. I was like it was a hell of a ride and, man, it goes by extremely fast. The day I announced my retirement, it (the career) felt like it had started. But I enjoyed waking up in the morning and being stress-free. Not having to worry about rolling out of bed to get your body going and go down to LCA. I’ve enjoyed being around my kids.
►Q. Did you watch a lot of Wings games this season?
►A. The ones I would watch were the ones I could catch. If I wasn’t at the rink with the boys or out of town and I could catch a Wings game, I would tune in. I turned it on as a fan just to watch them.
And because I still want them to succeed and do real well because a lot of them are my boys (friends). But I never really got emotional about it. I never got choked up watching them play and a lot of it has to do, I believe, is because of the circumstances of the way everything was going on (with the pandemic).
►Q. It was crazy. When everything came down in March 2020, did you think the season was over with right then?
►A. It was crazy. We (on the team) all thought, all right, it was two weeks and we’ll be right back out there. But we were all wrong about that. As the pandemic stretched out and there was no way the NHL was going to lose a season (in 2020-21), it made me feel like I made the right decision for myself and my family.
►Q. It seemed like players had a difficult time getting through this season. A lot of protocols, testing …
►A. It definitely wasn’t easy on them.
►Q. All right, so what do you think about your old team and where they stand right now? Are they on their way back?
►A. They’re on the right path. They’ve got a great leader in (general manager) Steve (Yzerman). Obviously, he knows how to do it. There’s a reason Tampa has had the success it has had lately, because primarily he built that team. They’ve won a Stanley Cup and could be on their way to another one here.
You just need the young guys to keep taking steps. You have to get Bert (Tyler Bertuzzi) and Larks (Dylan Larkin) healthy for the start of next season. Then what I think Steve will do is start injecting youth a little more in the lineup and getting those guys going.
But that’s from someone on the outside because I’m not a part of it anymore (laughter).
►Q. What were some of the best moments in your career?
►A. So many, there were so many. Playing my first game at Staples Center (in Los Angeles) my first year as a pro (in 2005) and we won. Being part of the Stanley Cup team in 2008 …
►Q. I don’t remember, did you get your name on the Cup?
►A. No, I didn’t play enough games that year and I didn’t play in the Finals. But that’s all right. I was still part of the team and I was able to get the Cup for a day and I got a chance to bring it back to my hometown (upstate New York). Being able to celebrate with my closest friends and family and bringing it back to the North Country (of New York) and have everyone celebrate with it was a lot of fun and a memory that’ll stick with me.
Being in my first All-Star game and being able to bring James, he was only 5 or 6 months old at the time. Those games were fun, even though they’re not a lot of fun for goalie.
Being able to play the last game at Joe Louis Arena and having it be Z’s (Henrik Zetterberg) 1,000th game, that was a cool memory. Playing the first game at LCA is another one.
But the last one is being able to take the boys to the All-Star Game in San Jose (in 2019) and watch how much they loved being around all their idols. They got to see Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon and Marc-Andre Fleury, all the guys they watch. Their eyes were as big as saucers.
And being able to go to the Olympics. That’s the pinnacle for being an athlete. Every time I put on the USA jersey, whether it was Under-18s or world juniors or the world championships, it was another experience on my journey in hockey and it was awesome.
►Q. Kind of cool that on the back of your hockey card it will be all Detroit, too. That’s so rare these days.
►A. To be able to stick with one organization, it’s almost unheard of nowadays. So to be able to do that, I sort of see it as a feather in my cap as well.
►Q. Any one teammate stand out along the way?
►A. My mentor.
►Q. Chris Osgood, right?
►A. Ozzie was huge. He taught me how to live in the moment. I don’t know if he was always like that, but when I got to Detroit he never let anything bother him. It just rolled off his back, so I got to witness that. I’m still tight with Mike Green, probably my closest friend that I’ve ever had with the Wings.
►Q. Talk about that, I didn’t realize the two of you were so close.
►A. He’s one of the best. He was my guy in the room. We were always together and if we weren’t together, the guys were like, “Whoa, what’s going on?”
►Q. Interesting that both of you retired after last season.
►A. We’ve never spoken about it. We just sort of congratulated each other and just moved on. Now we don’t even talk about hockey when we talk. Just what have you been up to lately. Times have changed.
►Q. So you guys, you specifically, it was just time. It wasn’t a physical thing. It was just mental.
►A. As things progressed, I told him I feel like this (retirement) is better for my family and I’m done. It wasn’t physical.
And, like I said, you don’t need to get hit by pucks anymore.
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan