DETROIT -- Many goaltenders make a big splash as rookies, only to take a giant step back during their second season.

Some succumb to pressure. Some are exposed by shooters who learn their weaknesses. Some buckle under the weight of having to carry a bad team.

The Detroit Red Wings are confident Jimmy Howard has the ability and the mentality to avoid a "sophomore slump” after finishing second to Buffalo Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers in Calder Trophy balloting as the NHL’s top rookie.

Howard supplanted Chris Osgood as the go-to guy a month into last season and carried the injury-riddled Red Wings, starting 28 of the final 29 games during their playoff push. He played in 63 games and finished in the top five in goals-against average (2.26) and save percentage (.924).

Now, he must prove he is not a one-year wonder.

“The measure of goaltending isn’t one year, it’s 20 years,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “So he’s shown he can do it for one year, and he did a great job and he should be very confident. But it’s a big year for him.

“We know he’s got the ability. Now, you got to be hard enough between the ears to do it. Ozzie and Dom (Hasek) and these guys do it year after year after year, not once in a while.”

SEASON PREVIEW

PERSONNEL

• Last season: 44-24-14 (102 points, fifth in Western Conference), lost to San Jose 4-1 in Western Conference semifinals

• Owners: Mike and Marian Ilitch

• General manager: Ken Holland, 28th season with team, 14th as GM

• Assistant general manager: Jim Nill, 17th season with team, 13th as assistant GM

• Head coach: Mike Babcock, sixth season

• Assistant coaches: Paul MacLean, sixth season; Brad McCrimmon, third season; Jim Bedard (goaltenders), 14th season; Keith McKittrick (video coach), third season.

• Athletic trainers: Piet Van Zant, Russ Baumann

• Equipment staff: Paul Boyer, John Remejes, Adam Sheehan

• TV: Fox Sports Net Detroit with Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond

• Radio: WBBL-FM (107.3) and WHTC-AM (1450) with Ken Kal and Paul Woods

• Web site:

CHANGING THE RULES

The NHL adopted the following rule changes for the 2010-11 season:

• The tiebreaker among teams with the same point total in the standings will go to the club with the most regulation and overtime wins -- no longer including shootout wins in the decision.

• A lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principle point of contact will result in a major penalty and game misconduct and could result in a match penalty. A player who incurs two game misconducts under this rule is automatically suspended for the next game.

• Goaltenders will be wear leg pads that are proportional to their body size.

DATES TO CIRCLE

• Oct. 8: Season opener vs. Anaheim.

• Oct. 9: Blackhawks raise Stanley Cup banner.

• Oct. 14: Mike Modano returns to Dallas.

• Nov. 30: Visit San Jose in first of four games vs. Sharks.

• Dec. 10: Rare visit by long-time rival Montreal.

• Dec. 31: Annual New Year’s Eve game vs. Islanders.

• Jan. 18: First game at Pittsburgh’s new Consol Energy Center.

• March 16: Alex Ovechkin and Washington visit Detroit.

• March 21: Sidney Crosby and Pittsburgh visits Detroit.

• March 26: Rare visit by long-time rival Toronto.

• April 10: Season finale at Chicago.

THEY SAID IT

“We had three years when we played really good hockey and we went deep in the playoffs and we had one year when we didn’t. Hopefully we can get back here and have a good run.’’

• Detroit Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg

APPROACHING MILESTONES

• 2: Goals needed by Pavel Datsyuk to reach 200

• 4: Wins needed by Chris Osgood to reach 400

• 8: Points needed by Pavel Datsyuk to reach 600

• 41: Points needed by Mike Modano to reach 1,400

• 59: Games needed by Todd Bertuzzi to reach 1,000

BY THE NUMBERS

• 2: Number of players on roster who shoot right-handed (Brian Rafalski, Patrick Eaves).

• 3: Number of players on roster who were born in Michigan (Rafalski, Mike Modano, Justin Abdelkader).

• 46: Number of playoff games they have won in the last four seasons.

• 229: Goals they scored last season, their lowest total in a non-lockout shortened season since ’76-77 (183).

The deeper, healthier, fresher Red Wings enter the season confident in their ability to contend for the Stanley Cup after being ousted by San Jose in the second round of the playoffs.

To get there, they need Howard to play as well, if not better, than he did last season. He is embracing the challenge.

“The only pressure I feel is the pressure I put on myself to perform every night,” Howard said. “First and foremost, I want to give the guys a chance to win. If I take care of that, everything else will fall into place.”

Things did not fall into place for Brian Boucher, Andrew Raycroft, Dan Ellis and Steve Mason following their outstanding rookie seasons.

Boucher’s goals-against average ballooned from a league-best 1.91 in 1999-2000 to 3.27. He has played for six teams in nine seasons.

Raycroft won the Calder Trophy with Boston in 2004 after he went 29-18-9 with a 2.05 GAA. The next season he was 8-19-2 with a 3.71 GAA. He has played for four clubs in the past five seasons.

Ellis led Nashville to the playoffs in ’07-08. He lost his starting job to Pekka Rinne the following season.

Mason looked like a legend in the making in ’08-09 after he led the league with 10 shutouts and helped Columbus land its first postseason appearance. He wasn’t the same last season, going 20-26-9 with a 3.05 GAA.

The Red Wings believe Howard is better prepared to deal with pressure and adversity because he spent four years developing in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins and, at 26, he’s older than most second-year NHL goalies.

Howard brushed aside the notion that opponents will be more familiar with his style and tendencies, saying opponents don’t take long to get “a book” on goalies with the amount of video that is studied.

Howard made some adjustments during the season.

“At the beginning of the season, I was too busy in net, trying to make every save look perfect instead of just stopping the puck,” Howard said. “Then I realized good goalies don’t try to overdo anything. They just let the pucks hit them.”

Red Wings goaltending coach Jim Bedard said Howard’s reliance on positioning rather than reflexes comes with experience and maturity.

“One of the greatest things he’s shown is positioning, patience and reading situations,” Bedard said. “When you first come up and are playing against guys that are at another level, things move really quick. It’s more reactionary and reflex. You’re just trying to get through it by battling and athleticism.

“As you get older, positioning is more important, controlling the game in front of you rather than just reacting.”

Howard hopes to improve his puck-moving skills this season to help his defense.

“I think last year I almost took the guys for granted, how good they are in coming back,” Howard said. “They’re so good at making first passes out of the zone, I felt like if I got back there I was just in the way.”

Howard grew up in upstate New York and played college hockey at Maine. That’s where he met his future wife, Rachel, who lived down the hall during their freshman year.

They were married in the summer of 2009, but postponed their honeymoon in Maui until this past summer so it didn’t interfere with his training.

Howard’s weight and conditioning were questioned earlier in his minor league career. Now, he is in the best shape of his life.

“I feel really good, feel really quick,” Howard said. “I feel like I’m getting across the top of the crease really good, getting set up and being in place.”

Off the ice, he said he’s learned to put each game behind him, not get too high after a good performance and or discouraged by a poor game.

Howard has earned the confidence of his teammates.

“He was maybe the biggest reason we made it into the playoffs,” defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “He kept us in games and kept us in the race. I think the confidence is going to carry over into this season. That’s going to make him even better than he was last year.”

Said captain Nicklas Lidstrom: “He proved not only to himself but to the team that he can be that No. 1 guy. Jimmy is a hungry goalie and wants to prove himself even more than he did last year.”

Howard is in the final year of his contract. He can become an unrestricted free agent next summer, but his goal is to sign a long-term deal with the Red Wings.

Osgood, Howard’s mentor, told him to brace for a tougher season.

“You can’t stay stagnant in this league,” Osgood said. “I tell him, ’Make sure you’re moving forward and continue to get better.’

“We have a good team. If Howie is solid and eliminates bad goals, we’re going to win a lot of nights.”