Michi-gamer: Pride of the Mitten State (Week of Nov. 23, 2015)

Welcome to another season of MiHockey’s Michi-gamer! 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 morning, we pick one Michi-gamer from the previous night’s slate of games across all professional levels of hockey – one Michigan player who stood out above the rest.

NOVEMBER 23 – MIKE CAMMALLERI

The former University of Michigan forward may be getting up there in age, but his play has certainly not fallen off. Mike Cammalleri has led the Devils to a surprising 11-8-1 start this year—keeping pace with the rest of the Metropolitan Division. He had a big night on Sunday, notching a goal and two assists in a win against the Vancouver Canucks. Cammalleri started the scoring 1:05 into the second period when he took a pass out front from Kyle Palmieri and beat Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom for his seventh of the season. He had a hand in all three Devils goals—picking up two assists in the third period as well. The first came on a power play when he got the puck on the side wall and fed Trenton native Andy Greene at the point, who buried a slap shot through a screen. The second gave the Devils an important two goal lead. He dropped a pass to Adam Henrique and, after having his shot blocked, he fired on net again to beat Markstrom under his blocker.

Michi-gamer features compiled by MiHockey’s @StefanKubus, @MichaelCaples and Tyler Barnes. Click here to see last week’s picks.