• HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • Atlantic Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Metropolitan Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Pacific Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • NHL Rumors
  • THW Podcast
  • NHL Prospects
  • Columns
  • NWHL
  • More…
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • Long Read
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
    • Fantasy Hockey
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • Site Index
  • NHL Salary Caps
  • Hockey 101: A Beginner’s Guide
  • Join Our Team
  • Free Newsletter
  • Resources
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • Atlantic Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Metropolitan Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Pacific Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • NHL Rumors
  • THW Podcast
  • NHL Prospects
  • Columns
  • NWHL
  • More…
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • Long Read
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
    • Fantasy Hockey
Home
Detroit Red Wings

Detroit’s Riley Sheahan Maturing Before Our Eyes

By Jordan Hoy March 22nd, 2014

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Drunk Driving Arrest

Two Halloween’s ago a boozed up Riley Sheahan was stumbling and bumbling around Grand Rapids. The 20-year-old was pulled over wearing a purple teletubby costume driving his Jeep Wrangler the wrong way on a downtown street.

An underage Sheahan presented cops with teammate Brendan Smith’s driver’s license and was charged under Michigan’s “Super Drunk Driving ” law. It was the kind of legendary drinking story that Wings fans would have expected out of a hard living Bob Probert in late 1980’s.

(Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports)

Riley Sheahan has made big strides in 2013-2014. (Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports)

Eventually, he pleaded guilty to the offense and MLive.com’s Peter J. Wallner detailed Sheahan’s penalties:

According to a clerk at the 61st district court, Sheahan had to pay a $1,325 fine by today and agreed to complete 49 hours on a work crew, attend a victim impact class and serve 12 months of probation.

However, unlike Probert’s exploits, the clip of Sheahan’s escapade was up on social media sites within hours. Not an easy situation for a young player.

A Brand New Man  

Fast forward to 2014. Sheahan is no longer navigating his way around downtown Grand Rapids; nope, these days he’s cruising around downtown Detroit.

In a critical game in Minnesota on Saturday Riley Sheahan suited up for his 30th game with the Detroit Red Wings this season. And, these haven’t been powder puff minutes either. On Thursday, Sheahan spent much of his night matched up against Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin.

Currently, Sheahan is centering the Wings’ second line between Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist. A position commonly occupied by Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg isn’t an easy job for any player to fill, let alone a rookie.

But, he’s filled in admirably. Sheahan has proven himself to be a versatile player who Mike Babcock can utilize in any situation.

Although, he’s only got 5 goals this year Sheahan has shown glimpses of offensive flare. His goal against olympic gold medalist goaltender Carey Price is a good example of the heavy shot Sheahan possesses.

I don’t pretend to know what Sheahan has been up to off the ice. He could be partying just as hard for all I know.

However, I doubt those type of blowouts would be accepted behavior around a veteran Red Wing group. It’s fair to say that Sheahan has grown up a lot both on and off the ice in the last two years.

And, Sheahan’s transformation has come at the nick of time for the organization. Detroit is counting on the youngster to be a key contributor for their stretch drive.

Riley Sheahan’s conversion from big partier to big player might be best summed up by country music legends Brooks & Dunn:

I used to have a wild side,

They say a country mile wide,

I’d burn those beer joints down,

That’s all changed now.

.

  • Tags
  • Riley Sheahan
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Facebook Comments

Our Hockey Podcast
hockey podcast
Bruce’s Picks
Blues' Top Line is Red Hot

Blues' Top Line is Red Hot

361
2019 NHL Trade Deadline: Deal Tracker

2019 NHL Trade Deadline: Deal Tracker

1889
Recent Posts
Feb 19th 10:35 AM
Carolina Hurricanes

Hurricanes Let ‘Jerk’ Fans Wear Cherry’s Words

Feb 19th 10:20 AM
Trade Deadline

Golden Knights Should Raid the Senators

Feb 19th 10:05 AM
Vancouver Canucks

Canucks’ Reid Boucher: Untapped Potential

Feb 19th 9:50 AM
Women's Hockey

Gigi Marvin Leads the Way as Boston Routs Riveters 8-1

Feb 19th 9:35 AM
St Louis Blues

Binnington Beautifully Backstopping Berubes’ Blues

Feb 19th 9:20 AM
Anaheim Ducks

Anaheim Ducks’ 50-Goal Scorers

Feb 19th 9:05 AM
Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings’ Nyquist: Top 4 Trade Destinations

Feb 19th 8:50 AM
Boston Bruins

‘Beat LA’ Has Become a Bruins’ Benchmark

Feb 19th 8:35 AM
Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs Mentor – Ron Hainsey

Feb 19th 6:37 AM
Boston Bruins

Bruins Beat Sharks on McAvoy’s OT Winner

Stay in Touch
Contact Us

Via our Newsletters
RSS Feeds

Privacy Statement

Our Partners
HFBoards

About THW…

Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 writers worldwide. Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix.

Join over 18 000 Subscribers of our free bi-weekly Newsletter.

© The Hockey Writers 2018. All rights reserved.
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • Search THW
  • NHL Rumors
  • The Goalie Page
  • Atlantic Division
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • Detroit Red Wings
    • Florida Panthers
    • Montreal Canadiens
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Metropolitan Division
    • Carolina Hurricanes
    • Columbus Blue Jackets
    • New Jersey Devils
    • New York Islanders
    • New York Rangers
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Pittsburgh Penguins
    • Washington Capitals
  • Central Division
    • Chicago Blackhawks
    • Colorado Avalanche
    • Dallas Stars
    • Minnesota Wild
    • Nashville Predators
    • St Louis Blues
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • Pacific Division
    • Anaheim Ducks
    • Arizona Coyotes
    • Calgary Flames
    • Edmonton Oilers
    • Los Angeles Kings
    • San Jose Sharks
    • Vegas Golden Knights
    • Vancouver Canucks
  • Selections From Our Archives
  • Podcast
  • Prospects
  • NHL Salary Cap Information
  • Join Our Team