“I met up with some old high school friends and one mentioned ‘did you hear they are going to build 5,000 homes in the Bellmawr landfill?'” says Matthews. At first, he was providing tips to a local newspaper on businesses opening in Bellmawr. Matthews has been blogging online for the last 10 to 15 years. Coach Mike Babcock spoke to Fox Sports Detroit’s John Keating, saying, “It’s not because he didn’t play well Wednesday, it’s because someone has to sit.Mark Matthews, on vacation at Universal in Orlando. “I’m not going to contribute a ton offensively, but if I can maybe play good in my own end, kill penalties, if I’m needed to, and just give solid minutes whenever I get back there of the blue line.”ĭRAPER SCRATCHED: Veteran center Kris Draper is a healthy scratch for the Wings’ game against the Oilers. “Just try to be solid back there defensively,” he said. The Wings know what Janik brings to the table when called upon, something that could happen come playoff time. JANIK READY, BUT RETURNED: Defenseman Doug Janik participated in Friday’s morning skate, but was sent back to Grand Rapids shortly afterwards.īrad Stuart, who tweaked an ankle in the Red Wings’ 2-1 loss to Los Angeles on Wednesday, will play Friday. Fortunately for me, I was able to get here and you hope those kids have the same dreams.” “You grow up watching it and admiring it and hope one day you can get there. “Well, I wished I had an opportunity like they have, but when you’re younger, the NHL is always the pinnacle,” he said. What does Cleary remember about being their age? “You never know, one of those guys could be a future NHLer. “We’ve got a big province, land-wise, you know there’s only half a million people, but I think having only a couple guys in the NHL and with the kids growing up and looking up to you, it’s good to for the kids to come through Detroit and come to a practice,” Cleary said. Not many Newfoundlanders before him have played in the NHL, but Cleary knows that the pride of being from there reverberates down to the kids. “It’s probably their first time being at an NHL practice and seeing an NHL game.” “Yeah, Ben and a team from back home, it’s good to see the young kids,” Cleary said. John’s, the Newfoundland and Labrador capital.”ĭanny Cleary knows it’s a special opportunity for the hometown kids to see a pro team up close. “But when we got here it reminded me of St. “I’ve been to Florida and it was the only place I was in America and it was a really sunny state,” he said. Caines, 16, who was a little surprised at the similar weather between his home and the Motor City. Some of the kids have never been to an NHL game like A.J. The timing of the tournament couldn’t have been better with the Wings being home, “Later on this tournament we’ll be playing on the Joe’s ice so it’s been fantastic.” Then Danny gave us some passes to come on down.” “It’s crazy, I’ve only been to one hockey game when we played in a tournament in Montreal and saw the Leafs play the Canadiens, but it’s unreal just being in Detroit for the first time. “We flew from Newfoundland to Toronto and drove from Toronto to Detroit. “We got here yesterday at about 12 o’clock, just hung out around the hotel, it was a pretty cool experience just coming from Canada,” Ben Cleary said. It has already been a whirlwind experience for the Vikings’ team, which arrived in Detroit on Thursday. John’s, Newfoundland, watched the Wings’ morning skate and will watch Friday’s game at Joe Louis Arena when the Wings host the Edmonton Oilers. The Gonzaga High School hockey team, from St. One of those people is Red Wings forward Danny Cleary, one of only a couple of Newfoundland players in the NHL currently and only the second to win the Stanley Cup.įriday morning, Cleary gave his 15-year-old cousin, Ben Cleary, and his high school hockey teammates, a special memory when the team traveled to southeastern Michigan for the Motown Cup Tournament Series this weekend. behind Alaska, Texas and California – but only a little over 500,000 people call it home. It is a huge province at over 400,000 square miles – it would rank fourth largest if it were in the U.S. This is the case with the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
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