If you were to make a case as to who was the MVP of last season’s Detroit Red Wings, it’s hard to vote for anyone other than goaltender Jimmy Howard. He kept a defensively-challenged club in many games they had no right being in, and his consistency was evident. They weren’t many games in which Howard got the nod that you could debate whether the team got top-notch netminding.

“We were in every single game, so I think that’s a positive,” Howard told DetroitRedWings.com. “It wasn’t too often where we got blown out or something like that.”

“For us, I think it’s just finding a way to flip that a little bit and find ourselves more on the winning side than the losing side.”

It figures to be another trying campaign for the Wings, and an interesting one for Howard, in the last year of a contract that will pay him $4.25 million this season.

“Personally I would love to finish my career here as a Red Wing,” Howard said. “If I had a crystal ball and is that going to happen? I’m not 100 percent sure. We’ll have to wait and see and just see how everything sort of pans here over the course of the year. I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to ending my career here in Detroit.”

Is that going to be in the best interests of the team? Should the Wings again slide out of the playoff - and realistically, only the most optimistic of fans could see any other outcome - Howard could prove to be very attractive trade bait. And if they opted to go that route, the Wings would always be left with the option to sign Howard as a free agent in the summer.

Certainly, they’ve provided themselves with cover for this opportunity by signing veteran Jonathan Bernier to a three-year deal.

“From what I’ve heard and from what I’ve heard from Sal (goalie coach Jeff Salajko), he’s an extremely hard worker and that’s great,” Howard said. “I think that’s something we both have in common. Just to be able to push each other and learn from him, I’m sure there’s going to be things that he does a little bit better than me, like maybe post play or something along those lines.”

Regarding his future, Howard has learned not to focus too much on matters that are out of his control.

“As I’ve gotten older and wiser, I don’t think about those things because they can drive you nuts,” Howard said.

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