DetroitRedWings.com’s Brett McWethy filed an article discussing Jon Merrill’s homecoming-via-free-agency this morning:
Jon Merrill hasn’t stopped beaming since officially signing with the Detroit Red Wings on October 9, the first official day of free agency. Considering his story, it’s hard to blame him.
Simply put, Merrill is coming home. The 28-year-old veteran defenseman grew up in Grand Blanc and Brighton, Mich., and skated for the Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club, the youth program the late Mike Ilitch started in 1968, long before he owned the Red Wings or Detroit Tigers. Merrill also spent two seasons at the U.S. National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Mich., before playing three years of college hockey at the University of Michigan.
Appearing on The Word on Woodward on Nov. 3, Merrill referred to his joining the Red Wings as a lifelong dream. He was wearing a Red Wings jersey before he could even walk, and envisioned himself playing for the Wings while practicing in his driveway as a kid.
“I grew up playing for Little Caesars, and going down to Joe Louis Arena once a week, it felt like, to practice or to catch a Wings game,” Merrill told Carley Johnston in the Catching up with Carley segment of The Word on Woodward, presented by Meijer. “And obviously as a kid growing up in the 90s in Michigan, there was a lot of success with the Detroit Red Wings organization. I was a huge fan, and I’m just so fortunate that my career has led me to this point now, and to have an opportunity to play for my childhood team. I’m so grateful.”
