DETROIT -- When Cory Emmerton was at the morning skate with the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday, he was expecting to play at night against the Chicago Wolves at Van Andel Arena.
He certainly didn't plan on playing in Detroit against the Chicago Blackhawks in the afternoon.
But Valtteri Filppula was sick with the flu, so the Red Wings needed another forward. The Wings called the Griffins, but since they were skating, it took a while to track someone down.
"We played last night," Emmerton said. "We had a morning skate this morning, early this morning, was on the ice about 9 a.m. Kind of halfway through the morning skate, coach Curt Fraser kind of pulled me over, pulled the guys over, said that a man was down and needed me to go up there and play.
"Had a short period of time to get there, it was a 2 o'clock game. But, fortunately, it's just a couple-hour drive, and I just needed my suit and my hockey equipment. Just kind of got in my car, filled up on gas and made my way here."
Emmerton arrived at Joe Louis Arena around 12:20 p.m.
"Grand Rapids, there was a little bit of snow but 45 minutes into it, it actually cleared up so it was nice," Emmerton said. "There was not too much traffic so I was fortunate with that."
Captain Nick Lidstrom didn't have a lot of time to give the youngster a pep talk before his first NHL game. As it turned out, Emmerton didn't need one.
"It was very quick before the game and just told him to skate hard and have a good first game," Lidstrom said. "He did the best of it by scoring."
On his second shift at 10:05 of the first period, Emmerton scored the Wings' only goal in their 4-1 loss. Brian Rafalski and Jonathan Ericsson got the assists.
"I saw a couple guys going to the net so I just wanted to kind of get it there and hopefully pop off for a rebound, but the goalie misplayed it and I didn't even know how to celebrate it," Emmerton said. "I just kind of laughed more than anything."
Like Tomas Tatar on New Year's Eve, Emmerton scored in his first NHL game, which turned out to be a loss.
"I didn't come in here thinking I'm going to score in my first game or even my first period," Emmerton said. "Some things happen like that. I'm just going to cherish this moment for a long time and put it back in the back of my mind and go forward from here."
Emmerton, 22, was the Wings' first pick, 41st overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. In 33 games with the Griffins this season, Emmerton has six goals and 17 assists.
Wings coach Mike Babcock liked what he saw.
"I like Emmerton because Emmerton's smart and he can make plays and he knows how to play without the puck," Babcock said.
Babcock liked Emmerton so much, he said he would remain with the team for now, while Tomas Tatar and goaltender Jordan Pearce returned to Grand Rapids.
Emmerton, who wore No. 48, played 9:05 in 12 shifts, getting three shots and finishing plus-1.
Along with not running into traffic and scoring in his first game, Emmerton was lucky in that his father, Paul, his uncle and some friends were able to see his NHL debut.
"I was fortunate, my dad was on his way to Grand Rapids (from St. Thomas, Ontario) for (Saturday night's) game so I told him," Emmerton said. "It's actually closer for him. He was pretty excited about that. It's only a couple of hours away.
"My mom's out west with my sister, so I gave her a call just to let her know. I actually had my uncle and some friends in Grand Rapids for the weekend, so they made the journey, too, so I had some fans here. On short notice, it was nice."
And while his goal might not make ESPN's Top 10 plays of the game, Emmerton will always remember it.
"It's the nicest goal of my career so far because it's in the NHL, right?" Emmerton said. "It might not have been the prettiest, but it's been the nicest for me so far.
"It's going to be there in the back of my mind. Maybe I won't want to show them the video of it, but I'll tell my future kids all about it."
Jan. 22, 2011
