Detroit’s Howard will miss HBO’s 24/7, but his European teammates might not

With the Winter Classic now canceled, Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard says he’s going to miss the opportunity to appear on HBO’s 24/7.

But some of his teammates might be breathing a sigh of relief.

Howard told MLive.com that Detroit’s European contingent is less than thrilled when television cameras enter the dressing room.

“I was curious to see how guys were going to react with the cameras all around, considering how many Europeans we have,” Howard explained. “After games they’re sort of like water bugs, the way they just run out of the room.

“I was curious to see how all the guys would be reacting when there’s cameras everywhere.”

Of the 25 players on Detroit’s active roster, 48 percent are of European heritage:

Damien Brunner (Switzerland), Jonathan Ericsson (Sweden), Pavel Datsyuk (Russia), Niklas Kronwall (Sweden), Valtteri Filppula (Finland), Johan Franzen (Sweden), Jan Mursak (Slovenia), Gustav Nyqvist (Sweden), Jakub Kindl (Czech Republic), Mikael Samuelsson (Sweden), Henrik Zetterberg (Sweden) and Jonas Gustavsson (Sweden).

As for who would’ve been HBO’s go-to for soundbites?

I’m suggesting defenseman Ian White, based largely on Gare Joyce’s book, Future Greats and Heartbreaks, A Year Undercover in the Secret World of NHL Scouts.

The book contains the following story from Brady Leavold, a teammate of White’s in WHL Swift Current:

“Ian White was the big player when I came here. He’d been drafted by the Leafs and he had gone to the world juniors. He was just going to do things his way.

“In training camp we were supposed to show up for fitness testing in the weight room at the rink, and we were all there in our gym stuff. [White] shows up in jeans and a cowboy hat. He didn’t even take it off when he had to do the bench [press]. He did one rep and put the bar back on the rack and said, ‘That’s all I feel like today.’

“He gave it to the rookies, too. I was scared [expletive]-less. On the bus, I was afraid to even look around my first season. I sat near the front — all the veterans were in the back — and one time when I turned around, White saw me and said, ‘What the [expletive] are you lookin’ at?

“After that I didn’t look back the rest of the season.”

Sounds like a real character!