Abel to Yzerman
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Cleary’s Day In The Mainstream
by IwoCPO on 12/29/06 at 01:22 PM ET
Comments (3)
Woops. Look out. The mainstreamers are taking notice of our boy Buckets (Dan Cleary...A2Y glossary update this weekend).
Yet, lo and behold, GM Ken Holland and his staff have done another masterful job of keeping the Wings in the upper echelon of the Western Conference, doing so by signing guys like Cleary—a free-agent castoff by the Coyotes coming out of the lockout—and getting surprising returns.
Also, a nice article from The Hockey News. It would appear Cleary’s partying days are behind him, which has led to the success he’s enjoying now.
“To be honest, I don’t think I was any different than the majority of kids who play junior hockey.
“Let’s not beat around the bush, there were nights when we partied. But I don’t think I went overboard. I think the rumors got blown way out of proportion. And when you don’t play up to your potential, that just magnifies it.”
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Comments
Don’t get too excited boys. Our man Dan is shooting something like 18% at ES right now and 33% on the PP. It’s not going to continue.
Of course, at some point Datsyuk and Zetterberg will get it going...I actually like thsi version of the Wings better.
Posted by Tyler on 12/30/06 at 12:38 AM ET
You’re no fun 
I think Clears can put up 20-25 regularly. I don’t see him pushing 35 on a regular basis, but I think 20 goals and 50 points isn’t unrealistic year-to-year.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 12/30/06 at 01:01 AM ET
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About Abel to Yzerman
Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that. Your suggestions and critiques are welcome:
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Head to Hockeytown
Blogs the Chief Likes
I loved the comment from Kuflan today:
He came into the league in 97-98 as a bad-ass, for lack of a better term. He was known as a scoring whiz and a total jerk. He bolted the Belleville Bulls mid-season to sign with Chicago, but he only played in six games and was tossed into the minors for the rest of the season. His bad rep caused him to run afoul of Chicago’s management before he really did anything at the NHL level, and after he put up 9 points in a 35-game call-up, he was tossed to the Oilers, where he carved out a career as a grinder…
The story NOBODY mentions is the key one--he got tossed from Phoenix after a supbar 03-04 season, so he went out West to train with Schneid and Cheli. He went over to Sweden and played for Mora IK during the lockout, and he put up 37 points in 47 games as a first-liner, a la Shawn Horcoff, shaking free from his role as a defensive forward. His performance in Sweden played as much into the Wings’ willingness to give him a chance as his familiarity with Babcock did.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 12/29/06 at 04:22 PM ET