Glendening discusses his first development camp experience

Luke Glendening is in the midst of his first development camp as a member of the Red Wings' organization. (Nick Barnowski/MiHockey)


By Nick Barnowski –

To put it bluntly, Grand Rapids native Luke Glendening has traveled through his journey in hockey the hard way.

After walking onto the University of Michigan hockey team in 2008 with no promises of him ever seeing the ice, the hard work has paid off for the 5-foot-10, 185-pound forward.

Now, Glendening will return home next season,  as he signed one-year contract to play for the Grand Rapids Griffins. In doing so, he will become the first ever Grand Rapids native to play for the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate.

“Obviously I’m excited but I still got to go out and prove myself,” Glendening said. “It doesn’t mean that much just because I’m from the area. I’m excited to be in my home town, its a great city.”

Glendening, who scored 10 goals to go along with 11 assists in 41 games for the Wolverines last season, has been getting his first taste of what it’s like to be in the Detroit system by participating in the club’s prospect development camp this week in Traverse City.

“It’s just good to be around the guys who play in this organization, to see what kind of work ethic they have, to start learning the systems in Grand Rapids and Detroit,” he said. “I’m just trying to enjoy my time and learn as much as I can while I’m here.”

Despite only being on the ice for two hours a day so far this week, Glendening already has made comparisons between Michigan coach Red Berenson’s practices and the Red Wings’.

“I think Red comes up here every year to their training camp in September, so I think he gets a lot of drills and he’s still learning from them,” Glendening said. “I’m sure they’re still learning from him as well. In that aspect it’s kind of been nice, it’s meshed together well. The intensity is high here and that’s what they expect.”

While this is his first time playing with skaters in Detroit’s system, Glendening brings a package of leadership and high work ethic that Red Wings brass looks for in a player.

Glendening is one of only eight players to ever be captain of the Michigan hockey team for two years in a row, and he brings a defensive edge to the table, even as a forward – he was named the CCHA’s best defensive forward last season.

Despite these qualities, Glendening says there are still some areas of his game that need sharpening.

“I think I need to keep working on my skating, need to work on my hands, whether it’s my confidence around the net or my hands in general,” he said.

The soon-to-be Griffin has no idea where his career path may lead to, but there’s no doubt that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it to the National Hockey League.

“It’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of work,” he said. “I’m going to put every ounce or work into it and see where it goes.”