BY RACHEL LENZI

Portland Press Herald

Like just about every other hockey fan in North America, Jimmy Howard held his breath as he watched Nicklas Lidstrom take one last shot on goal in the final seconds of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

"My stomach was in knots," Howard said. "When you're playing, you do it. You don't get nervous. You think about execution. During the game, I was up, I was walking around, I was on the bike, I was fidgeting. Now I understand what my parents went through watching me play in the national championship game!"

Somewhere outside Montreal, Howard, the University of Maine's goalie in the 2004 NCAA national championship game, recounted Game 7 during a drive from Michigan to Maine, where he has a summer home in Dedham. On June 12, Howard watched as Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury dove across the goal mouth with less than two seconds left to stop the wrist shot by the Detroit Red Wings defenseman. Howard had a front-row seat in Joe Louis Arena because for a second spring, Howard was part of the "Black Aces," a group of reserve players called up to the Red Wings in May from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League.

This fall, however, will be Howard's best shot to join the Red Wings, the team that drafted him six years ago.

"Jimmy's earned a chance to get to the top," said Jim Nill, the assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. "We have full confidence that Jimmy Howard's going to come in and be a goalie for the Red Wings, but he has to come in and earn that, and there's an opportunity for him to do that. It's up to him. Is there a job for him? He has to earn that."

The Red Wings management has high expectations for Howard, who will enter his fifth year of professional hockey after he decided to forgo his senior year at Maine. Nill has seen an improvement in Howard's conditioning level, his consistency and his work ethic, as well as how he has adapted to the psychological rigors of professional hockey.

Since he left Maine in the spring of 2005, Howard has appeared in 216 AHL regular-season and playoff games, and in nine NHL games. In 55 AHL games this season, Howard went 21-18-4 with a .916 saves percentage and a 2.54 goals-against average in the regular season, and 4-6 with a .900 saves percentage and a 2.41 goals-against average in the playoffs.

"Jimmy has always had the skill level, but you have to live and learn in the minor leagues if you want to become a pro player," Nill said. "You have to learn what it's like to play four games a week, to take the bus everywhere, to live out of hotels and on the road. You learn mentally what you can do and if you struggle, how to battle through it."

After Manitoba defeated Grand Rapids in the second round of the playoffs, Howard and six of his teammates joined the Red Wings.

"We're pretty much a bunch of guys who are behind the scenes, who go in, in case of an emergency," said Howard, 25, who has been a part of two Red Wings teams that have reached the Stanley Cup Finals. "It's like being a volunteer firefighter. You're on call and you have to respond.

"Last year was a great learning tool," Howard said of his first spring with the Red Wings, who won the Stanley Cup in 2008. "But coming up short this year, even so, you knew what to expect day in and day out. You knew every single day what your role was."

Howard has found a mentor in Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood, who, during the AHL playoffs, remained in touch via text messages, phone calls and e-mails.

"What stands out is how calm Chris is," Howard said. "He never gets rattled. He has so much focus. He's so quick to brush things off. He did not have a great regular season but it was amazing how he got his mind so focused for the playoffs and how he did so well. He never gets nervous and he has so much faith in himself."

That resiliency is key for any goalie.

"At any level, it's huge," Howard said. "The season is so long and if you dwell on something, all the wheels come off and you're not playing well. You have to have a strong frame of mind and brush things off. You can't let the little things bother you."

If Ty Conklin, who was Detroit's No. 2 goalie behind Chris Osgood this season, decides to sign with another team (Conklin becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1), then Howard will have a chance to compete for the No. 2 job when training camp opens in September. The only other option for the Red Wings, if it doesn't work out for Howard, is to place him on waivers. If a player is released, the NHL's collective bargaining agreement requires a team to place him on waivers after a certain number of years or a certain number of NHL games as a professional player.

"The Red Wings like how I've progressed," said Howard, the 64th selection in the 2003 NHL Draft. "They like how I've gotten rid of the inconsistency bug, and this season, I was a lot more consistent. Next year, I"m going to get my shot and I have to take full advantage of it."