Detroit - It turns out Daniel Cleary isn't leaving the Detroit Red Wings after all. The team announced Thursday via its official Twitter account that it has agreed to terms with the veteran forward on a one-year contract and Cleary will fly to Traverse City tonight to join the Detroit Red Wings at training camp. Cleary, who had been expected to join the Philadelphia Flyers for training camp on a professional tryout, didn't report to the team Wednesday as expected and wasn't present when the Flyers took to the ice Thursday morning for their first practice. Cleary spent the past eight seasons as a member of the Red Wings. The Detroit Free Press reports the contract is worth $1.75 million, as per Detroit general manager Ken Holland.
"I just followed my heart and did what I
knew would make me happy," Cleary told reporters. "There's
nothing like being a Red Wing ... and I'm proud to be a Red Wing."
"We think we're a better team with
Clears," Holland told MLive.com. "He's versatile on
the wing, he's good in the locker room. In the end, he flew up
(Wednesday) to meet with (coach Mike Babcock) and I at the airport
and his message was he wanted to be a Red Wing and he wanted to work
with us. He hopes to play until he's 38, 39 years of age. He's 34,
let's take a one-year deal and trust that things will work out based
on the coach knowing him, based upon the people that he knows in the
locker room and the history of the ownership in Detroit."
He'll even get to keep his number, despite the Red
Wings' addition of Daniel
Alfredsson during the offseason. Alfredsson wore No. 11 during
his career with the Ottawa
Senators.
"11 is Danny's number in Detroit, so I'll
pick another number," Alfredsson said in a comment tweeted
out by the team.
No comments:
Post a Comment