Detroit Red Wings Danny Cleary terming Jan 15 as Season Saving Deadline -NHL Lockout Special
All National Hockey League (NHL) 2012-2013 regular season games have been cancelled through December 30th, which has definitely killed any momentum of getting back on ice before the year ends. For Detroit Red Wings veteran player, Danny Cleary,
not having something on the table by January 15th could be very well the end of the entire season as we know it.
If that were to happen, it would be the second time in less than a decade that the league cancelled an entire season due to the lockout. With talks having started as early as June of this year, the league and Players’ Association failed to work anything
substantial out and are nearing in on three months of the work stoppage.
The biggest reason in the eyes of Cleary is that having a season, that would be less than half of a regular 82-game hockey year, would in any case be pointless.
"Let's hope for (a) Jan. 1 (start)," Red Wings forward Danny Cleary said, according to Detroit News. "It's starting to wear now. It's getting so groundhog-ish. Skating every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
"If nothing is going on by Jan. 15, that would be for me an end-all. It has to be. I know they canceled Feb. 16 last time, but it's not fathomable to have a season at that point. You can't have a 35-game season."
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman also seemed depressed at not being able to work anything out when the time came as team owners and players sat down for the first time in months. Expectations were high, and a little too high for Danny Cleary, who was already
expecting another deadlock to come out of it all when the dust settled.
Danny Cleary is a 33-year-old right winger for the Detroit Red Wings and has done more than his part on being vocal about it all up until now. He was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks as the 13th overall back in round-one of the 1997 NHL Entry
Draft and has experience playing with a number of franchises, including Chicago, Edmonton Oilers, Phoenix Coyotes and Detroit.
In a total of 821 games played thus far in the NHL, Cleary has 362 points (151 goals, 211 assists) and 415 minutes in penalty time registered to his name.
Cleary is also locked on with the Detroit Red Wings to a five-year, $14 million contract, which will make him an unrestricted free agent by the end of this locked out season.
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