Luke Esposito earns his Wings in Detroit

Red Wings rookie and former Brunswick prep star Luke Esposito is a detail-driven perfectionist, yet he found himself distracted during warmups of his game against the Rangers at the Traverse City NHL Prospects Tournament.

"I was looking at the jerseys," said Esposito. "There’s a personal connection there."

He was staring at those iconic Broadway Blueshirts — the team he was weaned on his entire childhood, as the nephew of Rangers captain and "Messiah," Mark Messier.

Playing in front of Rangers executives Glen Sather, Chris Drury, Brian Leetch and Adam Graves was like playing in front of his extended family, only they were now the enemy. "I’ve gotten to know all those guys pretty well," said Esposito. "Whether it was hanging around the rink with my uncle when he was playing, and then when he was working there, they’ve always been great to me, offering up all their facilities … just a top-class organization. I’m glad I got to play against them while I was up here."