Red Wings give former Spitfire Leighton the best of both worlds
It is the best of both worlds for former Windsor Spitfires player and coach Michael Leighton.
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He wanted to remain in hockey, but after nearly two decades of pro hockey with stops in 19 different cities, the 44-year-old Leighton wasn't looking to be far away from his family and LaSalle home.
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He found that balance with the Detroit Red Wings hiring the American Hockey League hall-of-famer to be the club's new goaltending coach.
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'I was just looking for the right job that fit myself and my family,' Leighton said. 'To move away and move away from my family would have been tough. I did pass up on a few jobs the last couple years that just weren't a fit.'
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A sixth-round pick by the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks in 1999, Leighton's hockey odyssey began in 2001 in the AHL with Rockford after three solid seasons with the Spitfires. He was named to the league's all-rookie team and got his first taste of the NHL the next season with Chicago.
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But settling into a long-term stay never played out in Leighton's career. He played in more than 500 AHL games with 12 teams and his 50 career shutouts broke Johnny Bower's all-time record in the league.
He also got into more than 100 NHL games with Chicago, Nashville, Philadelphia and Carolina, while also spending time with Buffalo, Columbus and Montreal, and helped Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup final in 2010. There was also that season playing in the KHL with Donbass.
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Through all the travels, he had hoped to one day get closer to home and join the Red Wings' organization.
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'I felt, near the end of my career, I was also a mentor for these (goalies) coming out of junior and felt I got jobs to also be a mentor,' Leighton said. 'I tried my last three or four years to maybe get with Grand Rapids (Detroit's AHL affiliate), but they always seemed to have good goaltenders.'
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He joined Marc Savard's staff with the Spitfires in 2021-223 and helped the club to back-to-back Western Conference regular-season titles behind the underrated goaltending of Xavier Medina, Matt Onuska and Joey Costanzo.
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But when the Spitfires let first-year head coach Jerrod Smith go after a slow start in 2023-24, Leighton stepped down along with assistant coach Andy Delmore.
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