The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a Sunday evening notebook article which discusses the Red Wings’ impressions of Dominik Shine, who’s easy to root for:
Players know his story, understand the long struggle he’s been through, and love the touch of success he’s having.
“It’s such a feel-good story,” [Cam] Talbot said. “He just never wanted to be anywhere else but Grand Rapids, and to get an opportunity to come up here and don the Winged Wheel, it meant a lot to him. And for us to, seeing how excited he is and how much he’s put in to this point. You can see how much it means to him, and we’re trying to feed off that energy because it’s fun to watch.”
The NHL regular season is long and can be draining. In these dog days of the season, a story like Shine’s can invigorate a team and give it some energy.
“Certainly can,” coach Todd McLellan said. “And it has. You get to this point, in January and February, and now teams are giong to wonder what is going to happen. Teams, not just the Wings, are going to start to look ahead and thinking we’re close to some rest (4 Nations Tournament, two-week break). Some healing time. But maybe Dominik can drag us into the games.”
Shine was “pumped” about contributing to Larkin’s goal and getting a point in another Wings victory.
“It means the world,” Shine said. “We wanted to get a good start, so I was pumped to be on the ice for the first one (goal), and to get a point is awesome.”
