Emmitt Finnie came into the NHL season as a surprise 7th round rookie for the Red Wings. Many wondered what the then 20 year old, who had only played limited AHL action and exploded offensively in the WHL in his final season with the Kamloops Blazers would be able to do for a Detroit team desperate to make the playoffs.
Finnie managed the expectations as well as he could have, and though the Red Wings ultimately didn’t make the playoff cut, the Alberta native demonstrated that he belonged in the show. After playing all 82 games as a rookie, mostly on the top line wing, Finnie had 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 total points on the year. That was good enough to land him inside the top ten on the team in terms of points in his debut season.
Finnie also found time on the second power play unit, and though his goal scoring towards the end of the season was few and far between, that wasn’t for lack of trying. His tenacity and play driving pace had him around the net plenty. Unfortunately, puck luck wasn’t on his side, and in a game of centimeters (depending on the arena’s nationality), you sometimes need a little luck to make sure that chip shot near the net front doesn’t take a weird bounce up and over the goal.
After the season ended, Finnie was also tapped by Team Canada for the IIHF tourney going on now. Finnie has yet to appear in a game in Switzerland, but the young center man was named as the teams 13th forward for Canada’s game against Denmark.
For a kid who many never even expected to make it to the NHL, it’s been a pretty wild ride over the last year