Helm's Deep

From the Free Press this morning...

"That's probably been my biggest problem even in juniors and when I was in Grand Rapids, just being able to find that level where you have to play at without killing yourself.  I'm starting to get it -- how I have to work off ice and on ice to play pretty consistently and with intensity, but not running around trying to do everything I did in the playoffs."--Darren Helm

It still remains Detroit's "nuclear bomb option", that emergency switch only pushed when the post-season rolls around.  I had apprehension before this season even began that if Helm did try and sustain the level he has played throughout the past two post-seasons, he would spend a significant time on the LTIR.

Helm gets it.  And he owes a lot to #33, Kris Draper.  Here's what Helmer had to say about his mentor:

"He talks a lot, that's for sure.  But just watching him, the little things he does, the off-ice training -- he's an intense guy and he practices 100% every day, and sometimes in practice I get laid back, whereas he's always going. He's been doing it for a long time, so if I can learn from that, hopefully I can have a career like he has."

You mean spending the bulk of your career and winning multiple Cups in Detroit?  Yeah, I think I can deal with that.  In fact, I'm counting on it.  I thought long and hard and while attending last week's game against Vancouver, I walked into the Pro-Shop and ordered a custom jersey, embroidered with all of the fixings...an early Christmas present to myself.  A red #43 Helm jersey.