Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

TRAVERSE CITY -- When he saw his young friend struggle, Daniel Cleary thought back to when he first came to Detroit and found strength in reading.

He recommended one book in particular to Tyler Bertuzzi, and sure enough, as soon as he finished it, Bertuzzi rediscovered the scoring touch that's part of his appeal.

The Detroit Red Wings began training camp Friday by announcing Cleary had earned a one-year contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins. His own NHL days behind him now in his late 30s, Cleary has found a role with the organization as a player mentor for the team’s best prospects.

“It was a great experience for me last year to go down there and work with the young players,” Cleary said. “I love seeing the maturity and the growth. My goal is to be a good leader for these young guys, help them become great Red Wings. I love the red and white. I’ve already seen huge strides in a lot of these young players that are going to come up here and be good Red Wings for a long time.”

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Cleary has helped Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou, among others, but has taken extra care with the nephew of his great friend, Todd Bertuzzi, himself a former Red Wings forward. Last season was Tyler Bertuzzi’s first year as a pro, and he emerged from a tough first half to garner accolades in the second.

“He’s a great young kid and I really just saw him come out of his shell,” Cleary said. “He’s going to be a great player. He’s exactly what the Red Wings need. He works hard. He’s fit. He eats well. He sleeps well. He does everything he needs to do as a young pro, and I just encourage him to keep going, keep playing well.

“I made sure he read a lot of books to try and get his knowledge up, and his confidence. He’s a great kid and he’s going to be a really good Red Wing.”

Bertuzzi, 21, will get plenty of looks in exhibition season to prove he can translate some of the success he had last year in Grand Rapids – 12 goals, 30 points, and 133 penalty minutes in 71 games – to the NHL level. He entered training camp having turned heads during the lead-in prospects tournament.

“Bert’s a hockey player, and by that I mean, some guys, they just know how to play hockey,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “They find ways to come up with pucks. They might not be the prettiest skill set, they might not skate the fastest, they might not be the tallest, they might not have the fanciest hands, but man they're productive. That to me is Bert at the level that he has played at. He did that in junior, he did that in the American league the second half of the year. He did that at the prospects tournament.

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“How close is that to the NHL? One, he had half a season last year where he played good in the American league. Let’s have a full season. Let’s not rush him if he doesn't need to be. He’ll have a chance in preseason to say he’s real close or he’s not close.”

Cleary believes Bertuzzi is closer after reading the book “Hockey tough,” by Saul L. Miller, the same one that in the autumn of 2005 helped Cleary turn a tryout stint with the Wings into a long-term relationship.

“He was struggling early in the year and he didn’t score a goal and he was down on himself, and I said, ‘kid, you've got to read this book,’ ” Cleary said. “It helped me become a Red Wing for 10-12 years. And he read it and his first game back he scored a goal.

“He was a great little project for me and if he’s down there again this year - we’re still good friends, we text all the time, play golf together.”

When he saw Bertuzzi whiff on one-timers, Cleary spent extra time in practices working on that area. It’s what Cleary remembers veteran Chris Chelios doing for Cleary when he entered the league, remembers how much it means for a young player to have a veteran by his side. Now Bertuzzi benefits.

“Him and my uncle were good buddies and when Danny came down to Grand Rapids, he was a big part of my first year pro,” Bertuzzi said. “He taught me a lot of things, what to expect, what not to expect. He was almost like a father figure to me.

“My game is evolving every year. I’m getting stronger every year. I feel like I can do it all, and that’s what I want to do.”

Playing hockey in Grand Rapids and mentoring prospects is an ideal situation for Cleary, more so after the Wings hired Shawn Horcoff as the new director of player development. Cleary and Horcoff are famously close (find one, find both, Henrik Zetterberg once said of the pair) and now they’re with the same organization.

“It’s great, me and Horc have been best friends for 16, 17 years,” Cleary said. “We always trained together in the summer for a number of years, play golf together every day. He’s going to be great for the young players.”

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Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

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