Axel Holmstrom appreciates the history his last name carries with the Detroit Red Wings, and appreciates the head start he is getting as he eyes his own career with the organization.
Holmstrom as been with the Grand Rapids Griffins for two months, a bit of it as a participant, all of it as an observer. Assigned to the Griffins in early April, Holmstrom, a seventh-round pick from the 2014 NHL draft, had a goal and an assist in his second AHL game, and played seven games total before the regular season ended. He played two games in each of the Griffins’ first two rounds of the Calder Cup playoffs, scoring another goal, but since has watched as they’ve advanced to the Calder Cup Final opposite the Syracuse Crunch.