The Marquette Mining Journal’s Caden Sierra spoke with Grand Rapids Griffins forward Dominik Shine about Shine making his NHL debut at 31 years of age:
“I thought I was done completely,” Shine said. “You play eight seasons in the AHL, and you come to a point where as an American Hockey League player you need think about your next step, you know your next job, your next career.
“I kind of felt like I was never going to get a chance to play to play in the NHL, even for just the game, but to get that call that day, they meant the world to myself, you know, my wife, my kid, obviously, and my parents, too, because they supported me the whole way and believed in me.”
That all changed on that fateful day in late January when the Red Wings signed him to a two-year, two-way deal. Just days later, he picked up his first NHL point, assisting on a Dylan Larkin goal against the Calgary Flames.
“It was pretty nice,” Shine said. “It was a really nice pass by (Christian) Fisher. So just got a little unfortunate and caused a little havoc. And, you know, he knows how to bury the puck. So that was pretty cool.”
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Shine joins a long list of [Northern Michigan University] hockey alumni who have reached the NHL, and he looks forward to seeing his name among them at the Berry Events Center.
“It means a lot,” he said. “I remember being there, seeing those guys who have played in the NHL. Even guys who only played a handful of games, it’s still extremely hard to do. That was something I always strived for … to be able to accomplish that feels really good, when I get back up there and see that, I think it’ll be … pretty special.”
