Daniel Cleary - Playing Career

Playing Career

After playing minor hockey in his home area of Harbour Grace, Cleary left home at age 15 to play for the Kingston (ON) Voyageurs of the Metro Junior Hockey League (OHA). He scored 46 points in 41 games with the V's that season and subsequently was selected 11th overall in the 1994 OHL Priority Selection by the Belleville Bulls.

Cleary had a phenomenal junior career with the Belleville Bulls of the OHL which begun by scoring a hat trick in his very first game as an underage 16 year old in September 1994. Coincidentally, Cleary scored that hat trick against the Guelph Storm and current Red Wings teammate, Todd Bertuzzi.

Although his performance tailed off in his draft year, Chicago still selected him midway through the first round in the draft. Just one year removed from junior hockey, Cleary was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers as part of a package that landed Boris Mironov in Chicago.

Cleary played parts of four seasons in Edmonton. Cleary's $1 million contract was bought out by the Oilers in the summer of 2003. Shortly thereafter, he was signed to a much cheaper contract by the Phoenix Coyotes. He played, together with his former Edmonton teammate and friend Shawn Horcoff, for Mora IK of Elitserien during the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Following the lockout, Phoenix did not offer Cleary a qualifying contract. Cleary was invited to the Detroit Red Wings training camp, making the team out of camp and signing to a one-year contract with the Red Wings on October 4, 2005. In the 2005–06 season, Cleary established himself as a dependable role player as a defensive forward.

In the 2006–07 season, given an expanded role with the Wings, Cleary scored a career high 20 goals in 71 games. During the 2006–07 NHL playoff quarterfinals against Calgary, Cleary successfully converted a penalty shot while shorthanded; this was the first time it had been done in Detroit during the playoffs.

In the 2007–08 season, Cleary repeated the accomplishment of scoring 20 goals in the regular season. On February 9, 2008, Cleary suffered a broken jaw which forced him to miss 19 games. On March 11, 2008, Cleary signed a 5 year contract extension with the Detroit Red Wings, worth $14 million.

On June 4, 2008, Cleary won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings as they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4 games to 2 in the Stanley Cup finals, becoming the first Newfoundlander to do so.

On June 30, 2008, Cleary brought the Stanley Cup home to Newfoundland. A packed lobby welcomed Cleary at the St. John's International Airport. Later that day, Cleary brought the Cup to the Janeway Children's Hospital. On July 1, 2008, Cleary brought the Stanley Cup back to his hometown Harbour Grace, Newfoundland for a Canada Day celebration that included a parade and a concert. The event attracted an estimated 27,000 people. The event also attracted an estimated 103 individual media accreditations with media from across Canada and the United States landing in Harbour Grace to cover Dan Cleary's story.

The Newfoundland bluegrass/folk band Greeley's Reel (http://www.greeleysreel.com) recorded a "hockey anthem" version of their song "Come In" about Cleary after the win. The refrain specifically highlights the celebration that would occur "when Danny Cleary brings the Stanley Cup to Newfoundland." In addition to receiving extensive local radio airplay, the song appeared on CBC Television and a Fox Sports Detroit special.

In the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs on May 14, 2009, Cleary scored the tie breaking, Western Conference semi-final series winning goal for the Detroit Red Wings against the Anaheim Ducks with 3 minutes left in Game 7. With the win the Red Wings moved on to face the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Final. Cleary scored 5 goals against his former team in a 4-1 series win clinching the Western Conference title before succumbing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 7 games in a rematch of the previous Stanley Cup finals.