Michi-gamer: Pride of the Mitten (Week of June 10)

Welcome to another season of MiHockey’s Michi-gamer, now powered by Bauer Hockey.

We take great pride in our homegrown talent. Whether they grew up in the Mitten or we welcomed them here for college or juniors, they are our own. They represent the best place in the world for hockey.

Every night, we’ll keep an eye on those players, and every morning, we will pick one Michi-gamer of the night – one Michigan player who stood out above the rest.


JUNE 13 – LUKE GLENDENING

With playoff hockey back last night, we actually had the opportunity to pick a Michi-gamer. Luke Glendening made the choice pretty easy. The former University of Michigan captain and Grand Rapids native scored for the Griffins, as he and linemates Jeff Hoggan and Jan Mursak powered the team to a 4-2 win. The Griffins’ Game 3 victory means they are one game away from the first Calder Cup championship in franchise history. Glendening scored in the second period of Wednesday night’s game, recording his sixth goal of the postseason. The former high school hockey standout now has 14 points in the postseason, and he’s also +9 – not bad for a rookie who didn’t even start the season in the AHL.

More MiHockey articles on Glendening:

Glendening, Hoggan, Mursak line leads Griffins to Game 3 win

Billins, Glendening and the rest of the Griffins ready for the Calder Cup Playoffs

The Top 10 Moments From 2012: Grand Rapids Griffins

Luke Glendening proves high school hockey works


JUNE 10 – DANNY DEKEYSER

He doesn’t have any points yet, but Danny DeKeyser has been rock-solid on the Griffins’ blue line through the first two games of the Calder Cup Finals, and that’s impressive enough. The Clay Township native keeps getting tossed into the deep end without much swimming experience, and he keeps on impressing with his ability to quickly adapt. After making his NHL debut with the Red Wings in the midst of a playoff chase and well, wowing everybody seems like a good way of putting it, DeKeyser made his AHL debut this weekend – in the league finals, with plenty of rust to knock off. DeKeyser broke his hand on May 2 with the Red Wings, and made his Griffins debut on June 8. While he ended up being a -1 in Game 1 of the AHL Finals on Saturday, he played a big role in the Griffins limiting the Syracuse Crunch to only two goals on eight power-play opportunities in Game 2. The most important thing? The Griffins won ‘em both. Now, DeKeyser can catch his breath a bit, as the series shifts back to Grand Rapids, with Game 3 taking place Wednesday night. With a few AHL games under his belt, and hopefully his skating legs back, who knows what DeKeyser can accomplish in the upcoming games.

More MiHockey articles on DeKeyser:

Our top 10 moments from the Red Wings’ 2013 season

Danny DeKeyser still has to clean out his apartment at Western

Danny DeKeyser talks about his first NHL weekend


To see last week’s Michi-gamer nominations, click here.

This week’s Michi-gamer list assembled by MiHockey’s Michael Caples.

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