Daniel Cleary

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Daniel Cleary bigraphy, stories - Canadian ice hockey player

Daniel Cleary : biography

December 18, 1978 –

Daniel Cleary (born December 18, 1978) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Cleary is currently an unrestricted free agent. On June 4, 2008, Cleary became the first player from Newfoundland and Labrador to get his name on the Stanley Cup when the Red Wings won hockey’s top prize. He was selected in the first round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, thirteenth-overall, by the Chicago Blackhawks.

Youth

Cleary was born in Carbonear, Newfoundland, the location of the area’s only hospital, and was raised in Harbour Grace, in a section of the town called Riverhead. 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 eleventh-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.

Awards and achievements

  • OHL First All-Star Team — 1996, 1997
  • AHL Second All-Star Team — 2000
  • Carhartt “Hardest Working” Player of the Month — January 2008
  • NHL Stanley Cup — 2008 (Detroit)

International play

Cleary played for Team Canada at the 2002 IIHF World Championship, scoring two goals and three points in a disappointing sixth-place finish, which was Canada’s fifth straight World Championship without a gold medal.

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1993–94 Kingston OJHL 41 18 28 46 83
1994–95 Belleville Bulls OHL 62 26 55 81 62 16 7 10 17 23
1995–96 Belleville Bulls OHL 64 53 62 115 74 14 10 17 27 40
1996–97 Belleville Bulls OHL 64 32 48 80 88 6 3 4 7 6
1997–98 Belleville Bulls OHL 30 16 31 47 14 10 6 17 23 10
1997–98 Indianapolis Ice IHL 4 2 1 3 6
1997–98 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 6 0 0 0 0
1998–99 Portland Pirates AHL 30 9 17 26 74
1998–99 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 9 0 1 1 7 3 0 0 0 0
1998–99 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 35 4 5 9 24
1999–00 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 58 22 52 74 108 5 2 3 5 18
1999–00 Edmonton Oilers NHL 17 3 2 5 8 4 0 1 1 2
2000–01 Edmonton Oilers NHL 81 14 21 35 37 6 1 1 2 8
2001–02 Edmonton Oilers NHL 65 10 19 29 51
2002–03 Edmonton Oilers NHL 57 4 13 17 31
2003–04 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 68 6 11 17 42
2004–05 Mora IK SEL 47 11 26 37 138
2005–06 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 3 12 15 40 6 0 1 1 6
2006–07 Detroit Red Wings NHL 71 20 20 40 24 18 4 8 12 30
2007–08 Detroit Red Wings NHL 63 20 22 42 33 22 2 1 3 4
2008–09 Detroit Red Wings NHL 74 14 26 40 46 23 9 6 15 12
2009–10 Detroit Red Wings NHL 64 15 19 34 29 12 2 0 2 4
2010–11 Detroit Red Wings NHL 68 26 20 46 20 11 2 4 6 6
2011–12 Detroit Red Wings NHL 75 12 21 33 30 5 0 0 0 2
2012–13 Detroit Red Wings NHL 48 9 6 15 40 14 4 6 10 2
NHL totals 869 160 217 377 455 121 24 28 52 76