On Monday morning, the head coach of the Red Wings "didn't know Dominik Shine existed" -- and "shame on me," said Todd McLellan. By Monday night, McLellan was reciting the motivational tale of the 31-year-old rookie who helped his hometown team to a win.
Sitting next to Shine, 23-year-old Elmer Soderblom tapped his chest to capture his emotions and said, "Everybody who knows him and has played with him is so happy for him right now. It's just really a heart-warming story to hear."
Shine never thought the call would come. Last year, he almost called it quits. He had toiled for seven seasons in Grand Rapids without ever getting a shot in Detroit. He and his wife Taylor had recently welcomed their first child, a boy named Cooper. Given the strain of AHL travel and the long stretches he went without seeing his family, Shine was "thinking about maybe being done," he said.
"And then once I had my kid, I realized that it's really special for him to see me play," he said. "So I thought, maybe I'll just play one more year and see what happens."
The call came Monday morning, with 21-month-old Cooper in the car. Shine was taking him to Perani's Hockey World to get a pair of skates; good thing dad hadn't hung up his own. It was Red Wings assistant GM Shawn Horcoff: with Patrick Kane landing on injured reserve, the Wings needed a forward to step into the lineup for Monday night's game. The trip to Perani's would have to wait.
"We cut it short," Shine said with a smile. "We just went to Dick's Sporting Goods and got a ball and headed home -- had to get him something."
Then Shine headed home again, this time by crossing the state. Shine was born in Detroit and raised in Ypsilanti and Pinckney. He played youth hockey for Little Caesars, fantasizing of one day playing for the Wings. He was four years old when they won their first of two Stanley Cups in a row and launched a modern-day dynasty. As Shine said himself, "I grew up in probably the best era of hockey anywhere."
He wanted to be like Steve Yzerman -- who didn't? -- the man who signed Shine's first NHL contract Monday afternoon. He also had a thing for "Drapes and Maltby" because "I love the hard-nosed guys," he said. "I love the way that they played." Fittingly, Shine would spend most of his career grinding.
Undersized and overlooked, the 5'11 forward signed with the Griffins in 2016 after four years at Northern Michigan, because "I'm from Detroit, I love the Red Wings, I love the organization." He stayed with the Griffins because after Taylor moved with him to Grand Rapids, "I wanted to plant some roots for my family, not have to bounce around American League teams. I just wanted to have a good life in that sense."
The good life isn't glamorous in the AHL. The hockey is hard. The, well, shine can wear off quickly. As McLellan put it, "I'm sure there's been moments he's looked in the mirror and gone, 'What the hell am I doing?'" Shine kept staring back, signing a string of one-year contracts with the Griffins to continue doing what he loves. Last season, he became the third player in franchise history to play 400 games.
Soderblom, who's spent chunks of the last three seasons in Grand Rapids, called Shine "one of the smartest players I've played with. It feels like he always makes the right decision." Upon learning more about him, McLellan called Shine a "shepherd" for the Griffins' young players: "He plays hard for them, he fights for them, he scores for them, and that's likely the reason he's spent seven or eight years there."
It's also part of the reason Shine got the call-up. He's enjoying a career year in Grand Rapids, with 32 points -- one shy of his previous high -- in just 40 games. He attributes it to more opportunities and "hard-working" teammates. When McLellan asked around about Shine on Monday having just joined the Red Wings himself, he kept hearing the same thing: "He's going to be fine. You're actually going to really like him."
"That's all I needed to hear," he said.
With the Red Wings protecting a 3-2 lead over the Kings midway through the third, Shine sensed his team needed a spark. He buried Kings forward Alex Turcotte in the corner behind the Wings' net, then took a high hit for payback as he helped move the puck out of the zone. Drapes or Maltby would have approved. Moments later, Marco Kasper scored the insurance goal Detroit needed as Little Caesars Arena erupted and Shine got a few fist-bumps on the bench.
"I, like probably a lot of fans, found out about his story today," McLellan said. "And it was motivational for our group. It was a good choice. He earned the contract, he earned his way here and he earned his keep tonight. We're pretty excited about winning that game, but we're really excited that he was part of it."
Cooper was part of it for Shine. He greeted his dad as Shine walked out of the dressing room with his heart bursting through his chest. He watched him from behind the glass during warmups. Shine dropped by, and "to have him look at me and smile, it was just, I can't put it into words," he said. The oldest player since 1977 to make his NHL debut with the Red Wings might have felt like the youngest soul in the building.
"Being a kid from Detroit, it's something you dream about. Maybe you just pretend like you're on the Red Wings, or put on a jersey, but to actually be able to wear it in a regular season game and to be here, it's just something I'll cherish forever," he said.
The moment wouldn't have been the same without a win. The memory would have been marred. More than anything else, that's what Shine wanted out of his NHL debut, "to come out with a win and have everyone in that locker room happy," he said. "You can't ask for anything more than that." The Red Wings couldn't have asked for anything more out of their three-game homestand, six points in the bag and two points out of a playoff spot as they head West.
Most everyone in the Red Wings organization knew of Dominik Shine before Monday night. McLellan said he and his assistant coach Trent Yawney "are the only two people that didn't."
"We know him now," he said.
