The name Abdelkader is Arabic, but Justin Abdelkader is ALL Michigander.
He grew up in Muskegon, Michigan before being drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2005 Entry Draft. In 2005-2006 he played his first of what would be three seasons with the Michigan State Spartans before losing his remaining eligbility by signing a contract with the Red Wings in 2008.
At Michigan State, Abdelkader racked up 95 points in 124 games, with 44 coming from goals. No goal was bigger than his game winner in the 2007 NCAA Championship Game against Boston College with 18 seconds left in the 3rd period. The goal earned the Spartans a National Championship and Abdelkader the Most Outstanding Player award in the Frozen Four.
Before this year’s playoffs, Abdelkader played in just four games for the Red Wings. His only stats of note were 2 penalty minutes and 8 total shots. After spending most of this season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Abdelkader was recalled to start playing midway through the Anaheim Ducks series. He picked up an assist in his first game, but was virtually invisible the next six playoff games before the Stanley Cup Finals.
As you know, Abdelkader scored his first career NHL goal in his first ever Stanley Cup Finals game Saturday night and followed that up with another goal Sunday in Game 2. Both were huge as they put the Wings up 3-1 and the proverbial cherry on top of Game 1 and 2 wins.
The following is a video I made of the Michigan native’s three biggest goals in his career, the National Championship game winner and both with the Red Wings. Hopefully there will be many more clutch goals to come. Go Wings, and as Abdelkader said on the ice after Game 1 when asked if he wanted to say anything, “Go Sparty.”
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