Luke-Glendening-11-28-14

The Red Wings' Luke Glendening already has five more goals this season than he scored as a rookie.

(AP file photo)

DETROIT -- Luke Glendening established himself last season as a player who works hard and does many little things that help a team win.

Seeing him rewarded with his first career two-goal game last week delighted his new linemates, Stephen Weiss and Riley Sheahan.

"You probably saw some pretty big smiles on Shea's and my face after his goals," Weiss said. "He's a heart-and-soul guy, does all the little things that don't show up on the game sheet all the time. To see him get a couple was awesome."

Glendening has six goals and nine points in 50 games, after picking up just one goal and seven points in 56 games as a rookie for the Detroit Red Wings.

The added offense is part of the all-around improvement the 25-year-old Grand Rapids native has shown this season. He has won 55.7 percent of his faceoffs, much better than last season (48.5 percent). He's gone from a minus-8 rating to a plus-3. He leads the team in shorthanded ice time (3:14 per game) on a penalty-kill unit which was tremendous the first half of the season before slipping a bit this month.

He is second on the team in hits (86) and second among the club's forwards in blocked shots (41).

"It's amazing when you're competitive what can happen for you," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "If you're competitive and you work every day and you live in the gym and you do things right you get better. He's maximizing his skill set and his attributes. He's hard to play against. He's an important player for us."

Despite securing the fourth-line center spot midway through last season when recalled from the Grand Rapids Griffins, Glendening wasn't happy with his play, particularly his lack of offense.

He attributed his improvement simply to confidence.

"You're still trying to prove yourself every night, at least I am," Glendening said. "Just playing with confidence, and I'm really excited to score.

"I still have a long way to go. I'm happy things are going in the right direction, but I think there's still a lot of improvement to be made."

Glendening, Sheahan and Weiss, all three centers, have played on the same line the past three games.

"It's amazing playing with him," Sheahan said. "He skates so well and forechecks so hard, every time he gets in the corner he comes out with the puck. Even in the offensive zone, when you can have a guy like that to get the puck and start a play, start some possession, it's awesome. Then defensively he doesn't make mistakes."

"You see a guy like that who works so hard and it's kind of motivating to play with him. You want to work as hard as he can."

Babcock said he knew Glendening, who went undrafted after playing four years at Michigan, would be an NHL player the first time he saw him in Grand Rapids, but added, "I didn't think he was going to be as important to us as he is."

Glendening appreciates the support he's received from Babcock.

"Even when I was in Grand Rapids I felt he was in my corner," Glendening said.

"The coach gives you a little bit of confidence, that's huge.

"I want to work hard regardless. I think it helps your game improve a little bit. You can play maybe a little more relaxed. But it doesn't mean you can take your foot off the gas."

Glendening apparently is as reliable at home as he is at work. He, Sheahan and Brian Lashoff (before he was reassigned to Grand Rapids) are renting a house in metro Detroit.

"He's the responsible one of the group," Sheahan said. "We have a cleaning lady but we try to keep it pretty tidy. He's our ringleader who starts the cleaning. If we have to pay bills, he's the one who reminds us.

"We're kind of surprised how well we get along. There hasn't been any controversy yet. It's been a lot of fun."

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