While most Toledo Walleye players have seen what an actual walleye looks like after seeing the fish thrown onto the ice, not as many knew what it tasted like.

Toledo Walleye forward Doug Clarkson tries his first piece of walleye on Jan. 16. Toledo Free Press Photo by Vincent D. Scebbi.

But the players had their chance on Jan. 16 as part of a lunch workshop for the team.

Team owner and general manager Joe Napoli said he heard a number of Walleye players had never tried walleye before and set up a team meal to change that.

For forward Adam Hobson, who had 44 points with the Walleye in 2009, the lunch was his first time trying the dish.

The native of Mission, British Columbia, said while he still prefers sushi and other types of fish, he enjoyed walleye.

It was also defenseman Cody Lampl’s first time trying the white fish, which he described as “delicious.”

“I’d have it again,” he said.

Napoli said the lunch was paired with a seminar for Walleye players and coaches to better understand how other parts of the organization work.

“I think it helps a lot of teams see that there’s more to the sport than the on-field entertainment; if the athletes see the big picture, then they can have more of an appreciation,” he said.

Napoli said this is the second year the organization hosted the workshop for the team.

Walleye head coach Nick Vitucci said the workshop helps the players get a better sense of not only the business, but of their fan base.

“Any time the players can understand the business, then they can understand how our staff works,” he said.

The Walleye travel to Indiana this weekend to face the Fort Wayne Komets on Jan. 18 and the Evansville IceMen on Jan. 19.

They return home to host the Kalamazoo Wings on Jan. 25.

Tags: Joe Napoli, Nick Vitucci, Toledo Walleye

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2013 at 10:02 pm and is filed under Sports, Walleye hockey.
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For rookie goaltender Kent Simpson, adjusting to the pros has been as much about his time off the ice as his time between the pipes for the Toledo Walleye.

“I think the biggest thing is off the ice, living on your own and cooking your own meals and taking care of yourself,” Simpson said. “It’s a good learning experience that way and obviously the guys are bigger here and you’re playing against men out there. I’d say those are the two biggest things.”

Kent Simpson. Photo By Paul Nelson/Courtesy Toledo Walleye

The Edmonton, Alberta, native said living with his teammates has helped him adjust to the pro lifestyle and said his time away from the ice rink goes hand-in-hand with his performance when it’s game time.

“If you’re taking good care of your body then you’re going to play better ultimately,” he said. “It’s an ongoing thing and you’ve got to take care of yourself both on and off the ice so that’s eating well, stretching, taking care of your body.”

Simpson’s had to make some adjustments on the ice, however, when moving up from the Western Hockey League (WHL), a junior league in Canada, to the ECHL, where hockey is a step quicker.

“It’s different,” Simpson said. “Guys are bigger and stronger and there are some small differences. But it’s still hockey and there’s still one puck out there and my job doesn’t change really.”

Head coach Nick Vitucci said Simpson hasn’t had to make too many adjustments to the game from the WHL because there are a lot of similarities between the two leagues.

“I think there are a lot of similarities between that league and our league in the amount of games we play, the bus travel that the players get adjusted to,” Vitucci said. “They might have a little more time during the day because they’re not in school and things like that. Otherwise, I don’t worry about those Canadian junior kids turning pro and having a lot of adjustments to make.”

Vitucci said from his experience as a goalie and coach that when a goalie moves into the higher leagues, his job can get easier because the teammates in front of him don’t make as many mistakes on defense.

In the 10 games Simpson started this season, he is 4-5-1 and has a save percentage of .899 and a goals against average of 2.50.

Vitucci said Simpson’s mobility and size are huge attributes as well as his hard work ethic.

“You can see his attitude. He wants to learn and wants to get better and has fun with it, which is very important,” he said. “Especially for the players who play in front of him and see he’s working hard and has fun doing it. There’s a certain respect level that happens.”

Going into the season, the Walleye had two rookie net minders in Simpson and Petr Mrazek. Vitucci said he wasn’t concerned about it because he knew both of his goaltenders had the talent to play in the pros.

“It doesn’t really worry me about first-year goalies or fifth-year goalies,” Vitucci said. “If you see something in them, you feel confident in them, it doesn’t really matter to me. There are some great first-year goaltenders throughout our league and every league in the world out there.”

As the season continues, Vitucci said Simpson’s main goals for the season are to get experience on the ice so he can continue to grow.

“They’ve got to be able to follow the puck and get the game situations under their belts,” Vitucci said. “I think that’s the track for [Simpson] this year, get 30-plus games at the pro level whether it’s here or at the American Hockey League and that’s something he can build off of for next year.”

Simpson was drafted in the second round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks.

In five seasons with the Everett Silvertips, Simpson had a goals against average of 3.02 and a .911 save percentage.

He played one game with the Blackhawks AHL affiliate Rockford IceHogs last season and made 38 saves in a shootout loss.

Tags: Kent Simpson, Nick Vitucci, Toledo Walleye

This entry was posted on Monday, November 26th, 2012 at 6:37 pm and is filed under Sports, Walleye hockey.
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Even though it’s still early in the regular season, the Walleye are already stressing the importance of winning division games.

“I think in any league, division games are the most important because you win your division, you automatically make the playoffs,” said defenseman and alternate captain Wes O’Neill. “We’ve been preaching to the guys all year.”

Beginning Nov. 21, Toledo (9-7-1) will be spending plenty of ice time with the other four North Division teams. Over a span of 18 games, 14 will be against Kalamazoo, Evansville, Cincinnati or Fort Wayne.

The Walleye took the first of these 18 with a 4-2 win against the Cyclones in Cincinnati on Nov. 21.

The Cyclones struck back Nov. 23 with a 4-2 win in the Huntington Center, putting Toledo in 4-4 record against division foes on the year.

Cincinnati jumped Toledo for first place in the division with 20 points. The Walleye are just a point behind and in third are the Wings with 18 points. Fort Wayne is in fourth at 17 points and the IceMen are in last with 11 points.

“Traditionally, the other divisions had better points because I think this division that we play with Cincinnati and Kalamazoo and now Fort Wayne and Evansville, it’s a grind,” O’Neill said. “Every game is a grind and every game is a battle and we beat up on each other all year long. It’s a tough division to come out on top of and if you do, you’re battle tested and ready for the playoffs.”

Kyle Rogers (Photo courtesy of the Toledo Walleye)

O’Neill said these early games against division rivals are crucial in making a statement and building confidence for when these teams play again in later months.

“You go into their rinks and you can beat them and do it consistently and it takes a toll on you,” he said. “We want to instill that mentality that we’re going to be road warriors and go into these places and win. Also, when a division foe comes into our rink, we want to do everything we can to win it.”

Head coach Nick Vitucci said each division team plays its unique style of hockey – whether it’s Cincinnati’s aggressive forechecking or the Komets trapping the puck in the neutral zone and preparing for them will be mostly about making slight adjustments in practice and before the games.

“We know their tendencies and they know ours, there are really no hidden secrets with the power of video and you’re able to watch their games and they’re able to watch ours,” he said. “And [strategies] all work if they’re executed and that’s what it comes down to, execution, and obviously we’ve been doing that as of late.”

Coming into this stretch of games, the Walleye are riding on a hot streak, winning three straight and five of their last six games.

The streak has affected the attitude of the team and Vitucci said the mood is lighter and they are having fun in practice.

He said things would be much different if they were going into a stretch on a losing skid.

“The last couple days of practice have been fun,” he said. “Surely you can’t say that if you lose two or three games in a row. Guys might put some extra pressure on themselves and maybe we’re a little more demanding trying to right the ship.”

Their recent hot streak follows a four game losing streak that was snapped after a 5-2 win in Wheeling Nov. 9.

“There’s a saying that winning cures everything,” O’Neill said. “You could be having the worst weekend of the season when all of a sudden you win a game or two and everybody’s in a lot better mood, coaches are happy and all of a sudden you loosen the grip on your stick a bit and relax and then you start playing the way you should play.”

Captain Kyle Rogers said the key to staying in the hunt for a division title will be consistently playing simple hockey.

“We’ve got to keep the game simple and dump the puck on them and we did that with Fort Wayne in their place and we should have had three or four more goals but the pucks didn’t bounce our way,” Rogers said. It’s just about keeping the game simple and letting the game to us.”

Forward Randy Rowe stressed the importance of the first 20 games because it can help teams build a cushion before possibly making push for the postseason.

“Right now, winning these games helps us in the long run because those extra points carry on and you’re not beating yourself up trying to make a playoff push near the end of the season,” he said. “These points are crucial for us.”

Tags: Nick Vitucci, Toledo Walleye, Wes O'Neill

This entry was posted on Friday, November 23rd, 2012 at 11:20 pm and is filed under Sports, Walleye hockey.
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Despite 45 shots on goal, the Walleye could only get one past goaltender Shawn Hunwick as the Walleye lost to the South Carolina Stingrays 2-1 Nov. 11.

“Be upset that you lost the game, but not the way you lost it,” head coach Nick Vitucci told his players. “We worked hard out there and threw everything we could at Shawn out there and I know you’ve seen it firsthand that just because he’s 5-foot-8 doesn’t mean he’s not a great goaltender and he certainly showed why he’s had so much success at this point.”

Right winger Luke Glendening said there was a level of frustration on the ice after seeing only one shot reach the back of the net, but the team kept battling through it.

Toledo almost snuck one in during the closing seconds of the third period.

With an extra attacker, center Todd Griffith fired a shot on Hunwick’s left side. The rebound deflected into the slot where Willie Coetzee tried to send it home as time expired, but it was blocked in front of the net.

“But you have to continue to work and not be like ‘Man, we’re running into a hot goalie,’” Glendening said. “We had so many chances. We’ve had 10 in the last two, and to get one tonight was a little disappointing.”

Hunwick, a former goaltender at the University of Michigan, stopped everything thrown at him for 46 minutes, until he gave up a rebound goal against Glendening, his former teammate and roommate.

“He’s about the only guy I didn’t want to give up a goal on,” Hunwick said. “If I’m going to give up a goal, I’d rather have him beat me on a rebound than beat me with a shot.”

Hunwick and Glendening played for the Wolverines from 2008 to 2012 and were roommates for two of those years.

A few minutes after Glendening’s goal, he fired a weak backhand into Hunwick’s chest. As play froze, Hunwick said the two were laughing about the shot.

“I started laughing because it wasn’t the greatest shot,” he said. “He started laughing too. It’s always fun to play against a good friend like that.”

South Carolina got the offense started with an unassisted goal by Matthew Pistilli, who picked off a pass deep in Walleye territory and sent it past the goalie with 14:37 left in the first period.

The Stingrays added to their lead 12 minutes into the second period on a Dylan Clarke goal. Tyler McNeely and Hunter Bishop were credited with assists.

“The two goals were broken plays that one hit a stick and bounced right in front and the other hit Phil Rauch’s skate and went back to the guy where he can make a back door play; just some bad puck luck in front of our net and not enough in front of theirs,” Vitucci said.

The Walleye finally got on the scoreboard after Glendening took the rebound off a Cody Lampl shot and sent it to the twine six minutes into the final period. Defenseman Wes O’Neill was also credited with an assist.

From then, it was just a lot of chances and close calls for Toledo.

“We battled to the final second trying to score goals, and unfortunately just fell a little short,” Vitucci said.

The loss concludes a weekend that saw Toledo play four games in five nights.

Vitucci said despite the stretch, there was still a lot of energy that resulted in the high number of opportunities.

“I worry about the effort because there’s not much gas left in the tank after four in five nights or three in three nights,” he said. “We certainly weren’t weary tonight and we really put our foot on the pedal and kept it on the pedal and for that I’m really happy.”

The loss keeps the Walleye at 13 points and in fourth place in the North Division. A win would have moved Toledo into a tie for second with Fort Wayne and a point behind Cincinnati.

“It’s a tough league right now,” Vitucci said. “There’s a lot of parody in our league. Every team seems to be the same. They’re quick, they’re skilled, they’re good defensively and they’ve got good goaltending.”

Skating for the Stingrays was Sylvania native Alden Hirschfeld. The 24-year-old played with Northview High School and helped them reach the state finals game in 2006.

“It’s good to be back in the area,” Hirschfeld said. “I’ve had a lot of text messages and calls from people. Obviously, all the guys know this is my hometown. It was pretty exciting to get a win in front of family and friends.”

The Walleye return to action Nov. 16 when they travel to Fort Wayne to take on the Komets. The puck is scheduled to drop at 8:05 p.m.

Tags: Alden Hirschfeld, Nick Vitucci, Shawn Hunwick, South Carolina Stingrays, Toledo Walleye

This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2012 at 3:05 pm and is filed under Sports, Walleye hockey.
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Blown assignments and communication breakdowns were the Toledo Walleyes’ Achilles’ heel as the team let a third-period lead slip away against the Fort Wayne Komets in an early morning matchup Nov. 7.

The Walleye lost 4-2.

As the game was School Appreciation Day attended by area elementary, middle school and high school students, perhaps the approximately 6,800 screaming fans led to some of the breakdowns against Fort Wayne (6-2-1). However, team members said they did not feel the change in atmosphere was a legitimate excuse.

“When you don’t have communication, it’s a lot tougher game,” said Walleye center Byron Froese. “You have a lot less time to work with it feels like because you don’t know where your guy is coming from or where your guys are. It was definitely a big factor today is communication, but you can’t blame the game on that because the other team is in the same situation.”

Rookie net minder Kent Simpson made some spectacular saves despite the loss. When Toledo (4-5-1) had the lead in the third, Simpson was able to stop a puck while falling backwards and was able to cover up the rebound while sitting on the ground.

“It felt pretty good out there. I made some big saves to keep us in there, but it’s always disappointing when you can’t close out on a win like that,” Simpson said.

Perhaps one of the key breakdowns came during a faceoff in the Walleye zone with 7:36 left in regulation and the game tied 2-2. A missed assignment allowed Komets attacker Stephon Thome to take the faceoff from Jean-Michel Rizk and get it past Simpson for the go-ahead goal.

What has been the story all season for Toledo has been the lack of execution on power plays. The Walleye failed to convert on any of their four one-man advantages – all of them coming in the second period.

Head coach Nick Vitucci described the power play Nov. 7 as “disappointing.” He added that while the team is getting some looks and opportunities on the attack, that doesn’t show up on the stat sheets.

“We had opportunities but didn’t finish on them,” Vitucci said. “Obviously you want results, especially how hard we are pressing on the power play. We’re reaching and searching for right combinations of it.”

Fort Wayne struck first, almost 13 minutes into the game, when Daniel Maggio sent a pass in front of the net to Rizk, who then made a quick move to cause an opening past Simpson.

The Walleye answered back less than three minutes later on Luke Glendening’s fourth goal of the season. Defensemen Phil Rauch and Phil Oreskovic were credited with the assists.

After a scoreless second period that saw the Walleye on the power play for more than a third of the period, Froese fired a wrist shot seven minutes into the final period while coming straight at the goaltender. The shot rung off the left post and in to give Toledo its first lead of the day.

The advantage was short-lived, however, as Komets left winger Josh Brittain crashed the net on a breakaway and knotted the game up at two. Thome’s goal off the faceoff came 56 seconds later.

Walleye forward Andrej Nestrasil’s pass was intercepted by Brett Smith, who sealed Toledo’s fate with an empty net goal with just over a minute left to play.

The Walleye have a day off Nov. 8, but have three straight games this weekend.

The action starts with a road game Nov. 9 when they travel to Wheeling to face the Nailers. On Nov. 10, it will be the Walleyes’ turn to host Wheeling with the puck scheduled to drop at 7:05 p.m. The weekend concludes with Toledo hosting the South Carolina Sting Rays on Nov. 11. The puck is scheduled to drop at 5:05 p.m.

Tags: Fort Wayne Komets, Nick Vitucci, Toledo Walleye

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 7th, 2012 at 8:02 pm and is filed under Sports, Walleye hockey.
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With the Walleye off to one of their best starts since 2009, Toledo’s offensive production has stepped up compared to last year.

In its first nine games, Toledo (4-4-1) has found the back of the net 25 times, compared to a 2-7-0 record and 22 goals at this point last season.

Leading the team on the attack is left winger Andrej Nestrasil. The Prague, Czech Republic, native is tied with teammate Willie Coetzee in goals scored with four and total points at seven.

Nestrasil said the key to his early hot streak has been just keeping it simple.

“Actually, I’m just not thinking so much,” he said. “In the last couple of seasons, when it wasn’t going my way, I was thinking about stuff too much and when you overthink, it’s not good. This year, I was thinking just enjoy every single day with the guys and try new stuff and it’s working so far.”

One of the biggest factors Nestrasil said he worked on in the offseason was his skating. He said he would work with his Russian coach five times a week and it is already paying dividends for him.

“He’s committed himself a lot this year. I think he knows the pro game now and he works hard,” said Walleye head coach Nick Vitucci. “He’s very strong on the puck, which we didn’t see a lot of last year. I just think that’s with maturity and growing into his body. But he’s a lot stronger than he was last year and he’s been a nice surprise for us.”

The 21-year-old Nestrasil said the biggest change from junior hockey to the ECHL has been improving his game without the puck.

“When you lose the puck, you turn around and chase it and get it back. That’s the major difference between the leagues,” he said. “When you’re in junior league, you try something and miss it, then you leave and change up. You can’t play like that in this league.

“Seriously, you have to battle for every single puck because the more you battle, the more chances you get and the more opportunities you’ll have to score.”

Vitucci said the adjustments have allowed Nestrasil to have a “whole game now and not just one or two strengths.”

“After a couple of years, you can see the strides he’s made and the lessons he’s learned from year one,” he said.

Vitucci said the forward’s creativity and pass-first mentality leads him to more assists, but his growing experience allows him to capitalize on his own opportunities as well.

“He is very creative. You see that a lot of times when he is carrying the puck, he’ll pull up and do a little button hook and look for players where they can be options for him to pass to,” he said. “He’s got a good knack for offense and he’s very creative and, again, that kind of playmaking mentality first over shooting at times, but that’s coming around too.”

Nestrasil played in 51 games with the Walleye as well as 25 with American Hockey League affiliate Grand Rapids last season and accounted for 10 goals and 23 assists; 29 of those points were with the Walleye.

He played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for three seasons and scored 57 goals and 121 assists in three seasons.

Nestrasil said keeping his confidence in check and making sure his game is as simple as possible will allow him and the Walleye team to stay strong and make a run for the playoffs.

“Most of the teams that start playing well get a couple of wins at the beginning of the year and they just get overconfident and have great scoring opportunities on the ice and you just overplay it because you want to look fancy,” he said. “So we just have to stay down to earth and work every single game.”

Toledo Walleye player Andrej Nestrasil, right. Photo By Andrew Weber, Courtesy Toledo Walleye.

Tags: Andrej Nestrasil, Nick Vitucci, Toledo Walleye

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 4th, 2012 at 1:04 pm and is filed under Sports, Walleye hockey.
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The teams playing inside the Huntington Center for the Walleye season opener Oct. 13 will look familiar, but the players will be different.

With changes made to both rosters throughout the week, the Toledo Walleye and Kalamazoo Wings teams will not be the same teams that met during exhibition games Oct. 5-6.

After introducing the team during a Media Day on Oct. 10, Walleye Head coach Nick Vitucci said about 70 percent of both rosters had changed since the exhibition games.

The Walleye added goalie Petr Mrazek and forwards Luke Glendening, Willie Coetzee and Andrej Nestrasil from the Grand Rapids Griffins.

In addition, the Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, sent goalie Kent Simpson and forwards Terry Broadhurst and Byron Forese to Toledo.

The rest of the team will add some stability and allow younger players to be built around this older core, Vitucci said.

“We know if [older players are] not called up or hopefully not injured, that they’re going to be here,” he said. “We feel if we have a core that is going to stay intact, then we can certainly get a lot more accomplished.”

Walleye captain and right-winger Kyle Rogers said helping newer players adjust to the system of play is crucial to building chemistry on the ice.

“It’s a matter of getting guys to gel together and buy into the systems the coaches are giving us,” Rogers said “The [defensive] zone, the power play, whatever it is, getting these guys to buy into the system and know that you have another layer behind you and knowing that if you do mess up, you’ve got two other guys that are behind you backing you up. It’s a matter of getting confidence and gelling together.”

Helping the new players feel comfortable will also help the team come together faster, said left-winger Randy Rowe.

“You can’t come to the arena for two hours or three hours a day and expect to get to know someone,” he said. “We’re all here for one reason. We want to win and guys want to get to the next level and you can’t do that by yourself. You need five other guys you’re out there on the ice with or 20 other teammates.”

Rowe, who scored 41 points for the Trenton Titans last season and 49 points for the Walleye in 2010-11, said better chemistry begins off the ice.

“It’s one of those things where you get them to feel comfortable around everybody and [the faster] we all feel comfortable around each other, the faster we’re going to gel,” Rowe said. “The past few days we’ve all been hanging out quite a bit and doing a lot of team things. Every meal is together and we’re all starting to get to know each other and have some fun.”

The Walleye won their first exhibition game 5-4 in overtime in Kalamazoo on Oct. 5, but fell 3-2 the next night at the Huntington Center.

“Those games really didn’t accomplish much more than an introduction to our system and what we want to do, but the teams are going to have new personnel with both hockey clubs,” Vitucci said.

For more information, visit www.toledowalleye.com.

Tags: hockey, Kalamazoo Wings, Kyle Rogers, Nick Vitucci, Randy Rowe, Toledo Walleye, Walleye

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 at 4:30 pm and is filed under Sports, Walleye hockey.
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During the offseason, the Walleye added some age and experience to its lineup.

While last year’s team had 14 players younger than 23, only six Toledo players are younger than 25 this season, according to the roster.

Head coach Nick Vitucci hopes the extra years will give the Walleye the edge to push the team back into playoffs after missing the postseason the past two years.

“We’re just going to be a team that has a little more whiskers and experience under our belts, that in the long run we hope will equate to success,” he said.

Shoring up defense

Offensive production has decreased during the past three seasons.

The Walleye scored 254 goals in the 2009-10 season, the first year in the league for the team and its only postseason trip.

David Walker, left, skates against Doug Clarkson during a drill Oct. 3. Photo by Vincent D. Scebbi/Courtesy The Independent Collegian

In 2010-11, the Walleye finished with 239 goals and 72 points (33-33-6), just two points shy of claiming the eighth and final playoff spot.

Last season, goals dropped significantly, to 189 and 62 points (28-38-6), 10 points higher than the basement-dwelling Trenton Titans.

Older players will add stability to the lineup, something Vitucci said will lead to chemistry on the ice and more goals scored.

“Our locker room door has been a revolving door, players coming in and out and not having an opportunity to just get to know each other on the ice, which is what certainly leads to goals,” he said. “Our chemistry was never set because of all the players that were moving because of recalls and being sent down because of injuries.”

While the team traded fan favorite and former Bowling Green State University defenseman Kyle Page to Kalamazoo, the Walleye picked up former Kalamazoo Wings captain Wes O’Neill as well as 33-year-old defender David Walker.

O’Neill played 21 games last season with Kalamazoo and has spent most of his career with the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie Monsters and Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Walker, who was captain of Ontario Reign during the 2010-11 season, recorded 19 goals and 89 assists in three seasons there.

“The players we signed are going to be huge for us,” Vitucci said. “I think at times we’ve been inconsistent back there and [now] we have some good veteran leaders back there. That’s going to settle things down for us. We’re going to be a good defensive team, which is where we struggled in the past.”

The Walleye re-signed forward Joey Martin for this season. Photo by Paul Nelson/Courtesy Toledo Walleye

In addition, the Walleye re-signed forward Joey Martin, who led the Walleye with 49 points (22 goals, 29 assists) last season.

With this lineup, Vitucci said the team will look to implement a more aggressive, puck-possessive style of play.

The downside to this system, Vitucci said, is if the players are caught out of position, they are left more exposed on the other side of the rink.

“But we believe with the team we’ve got and the experience we have, especially on defense, that we should be in good shape,” he said.

NHL lockout

Despite the possibility of no NHL this season, the ECHL should be minimally affected, said Joe Babik, director of communications for the ECHL.

The NHL lockout began Sept. 15 over disputes in the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and National Hockey League Players’ Association.

Exhibition games are already canceled and regular season games will be called off if no progress is made on a new deal. The first NHL game is scheduled for Oct. 11.

Babik said that while players in the ECHL work to get noticed by the American Hockey League (AHL) and NHL, they are part of a different union.

Vitucci said he is optimistic a compromise will be reached before the whole season is canceled.

“I am hoping that cooler heads will prevail and they will come together on all of these hot topics and we will have hockey this season,” he said.

However, the lockout could help bring stability to the Walleye roster.

Because the ECHL is a AA league, players move between it, the AAA AHL and the NHL.

“Whenever there’s an injury in the NHL with the Red Wings or the Blackhawks, they’re going to get a call-up from their American League teams and we’ll lose a player,” Vitucci said.

Walleye Head Coach Nick Vitucci added experienced players to his roster. Photo by Paul Nelson.

“[Now] with only one team playing above us, you’re looking at 20 guys who run the risk of injury instead of 40 players who run the risk of injury. Hopefully, there won’t be that much movement once the season starts.”

With no NHL, more pro scouts could make their way to minor league games, giving Walleye players more opportunity to be noticed, Vitucci said.

“It’s a great opportunity for players at our level to really promote themselves as far as the type of players they are and character they are,” he said.

Vitucci said he did not recall any surge in attendance to ECHL games during the last NHL lockout, which canceled the 2004-05 season.

Vitucci called the lockout a “possible catch-22,” in the sense that fewer people may be thinking about hockey.

“Without hockey in the NHL, you’d think people who would want to get their hockey fix, they’re going to want to come down here. But there’s also no hockey in the NHL and families aren’t home on a Friday night watching a game and getting an urge to come to Toledo to watch a game the next night,” he said.

New ECHL teams

The ECHL welcomed four new teams to the league this year.

Joining the Walleye’s North Division are the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Komets and Evansville (Ind.) IceMen.

The Walleye will square off against Fort Wayne 10 times and Evansville 11 times in the upcoming season.

“We expect them to be very good teams right out of the gate,” Vitucci said.

“Fort Wayne is a team that has won championships at every level they’ve played at and Evansville is a team that has been good in the Central Hockey League. We expect them to be contenders right out of the gate and we are going to have to play our best hockey to compete and battle with them every night.”

The Orlando Solar Bears will play in the Eastern Conference’s South Division and the San Francisco Bulls are in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division.

Toledo hosts the Solar Bears at home Jan. 5.

The Walleye season kicks off Oct. 13 when Toledo hosts the Kalamazoo Wings. The puck is slated to drop at 7:05 p.m.

For more information, visit www.toledowalleye.com.

Former Kalamazoo Wings captain Wes O'Neill will play for the Walleye this season. Photo by Vincent D. Scebbi/Courtesy The Independent Collegian.

Tags: David Walker, Joey Martin, Nick Vitucci, Toledo Walleye, Wes O’Neill

This entry was posted on Friday, October 5th, 2012 at 2:30 pm and is filed under Walleye hockey.
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Editor’s Note: Reporter Brian Malkowski will spend shifts at various Toledo workplaces to offer insight into the people who work some of the area’s most interesting jobs.

Recently, two magazines named The Huntington Center one of America’s top venues. Pollstar.com named the arena one the top 100 worldwide venues and Venues Today ranked the arena 11th on its list for arenas with 5,000 to 10,000 seats. Since its opening, the $105 million, 8,000-plus-seat arena has attracted national touring concerts, family shows and sporting events. Its main sporting event, hockey, is facilitated by the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, General Manager Joe Napoli and head coach Nick Vitucci.

Napoli, GM of the Walleye and Mud Hens, has one of Toledo’s toughest jobs — selling sports entertainment to a city laboring under a 10 percent unemployment rate. I asked Napoli how Toledo hockey fans have adapted to the Walleye and the new arena.

“Toledo hockey fans have enthusiastically embraced the Walleye,” he said. “The Walleye are among the league leaders in season ticket sales and merchandise sales again this year. Scarborough Research also placed Toledo as one of the top five markets in America for avid minor league hockey fans.”

Coach Nick Vitucci

Head coach Nick Vitucci is no stranger to hockey. Having decided to put down his plumber’s wrench for a goalie’s stick, he has been involved with the ECHL since its inception. Playing 14 seasons as a goalie and being inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame’s inaugural class, Vitucci decided that coaching would be his next challenge. He started as head coach in 2003 with The Toledo Storm and after two-year hiatus remained Toledo’s Head coach with the Walleye.

So what’s it like to be the head coach of The Walleye? I spent a day with Vitucci to find out.

I met Vitucci on a 9 a.m. Saturday gameday morning in his office at the Huntington Center. With a bagel and coffee he sat and watched video of the game the Walleye won the night before on his laptop. Using STEVA software, he cut clips from the game to show players what he’d seen. Around 10 a.m., players hit the ice for their skatearound while the coach gave me a tour of the locker room.

The locker room was designed to keep the trainer’s room and equipment room up front and the player’s lounge and stalls in the back. This keeps any activity or commotion away from Vitucci while he talks to his players. The coach’s office is located in the middle with a TV, computers and a couch. After the tour, the coach then walked me out on the ice. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as slippery as I expected.

During the skatearound, players wore white and blue jerseys while running drills. The forwards took shots and the defense defended the goal. The coach noticed everything on the ice, including the opposing coach off the ice scouting the team. After the skatearound, the coach headed back to the computer to tighten up loose ends.

The computer is loaded with payroll, free agents and scores of incoming emails. Common email requests for the coach include hockey players who want a try out for the Walleye. This is actually possible because for the past two years, the Walleye have offered a summer free agent camp. Anybody who thinks they have what it takes is given a whole weekend to prove it. Unfortunately, the past two camps have not been able to produce a signed player.

“It’s only a matter of time until we sign a walk-on,” Vitucci said.

Family man

Pulling all nighters at the rink and numerous days on the road is not easy on a family. Vitucci, married to wife Dawn, tries to be home as much as possible while raising their 10-year-old son Keegan. When the coach is home, the family watches movies or hockey on TV. Keegan has followed in his dad’s footsteps and is a goalie on his hockey team. He also plays baseball and enjoys fishing with his dad.

Game time

After the skatearound, the players and staff sign one of the camouflage jerseys being worn that night to be auctioned for charity. One of the Walleye’s own, Pvt. Aaron Bauer, who recently went active, will soon receive his personalized Walleye jersey from the team. Pvt. Bauer is an assistant equipment manager for the Walleye. Soon after the military is recognized, the national anthem is played and it is game time.

The game I watched, versus Elmira, almost went down in history before the first period was finished. Elmira scored six goals to Toledo’s one. When the Boyer horn blew signaling the end of the period, the coach left the ice and walked straight forward to the locker room. Vitucci challenged his players to work harder and believe they could come back.

“We have two periods left, so let’s peck away at it,” he said.

That must have worked because when the Walleye hit the ice to start the second period, the players were all business. Changing course, the Walleye ended the second period down 7-5. Still walking straight to the locker room, Vitucci told the players, “to keep the intensity and keep the belief.”

The third period started with three quick goals and with the last goal at 12:41 left in the third, the Walleye held on to win 8-7. The Walleye, who were once down 5-0, came back for an unbelievable win.

After the game, it was time for the Walleye players to auction off their military jerseys one by one. The Walleyes charities include Heroes in Action and Honor Flight. Heroes in Action of Toledo is a nonprofit that sends care packages to military personnel and helps aid their families while they are away during service. Honor Flight is a nonprofit that flies veterans from Northwest Ohio to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials that built and dedicated for their service.

Behind the scenes

Spending the day with the Walleye, I saw all the behind-the-scenes activity, from players being counseled in the locker room to the Zamboni being cleaned. Toledo should be thankful for the $105 million venue located Downtown and the people who work there for the fans’ enjoyment.

Tags: Brian Malkowski, Huntington Center, Joe Napoli, Nick Vitucci, On the Job, Toledo Walleye

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 3rd, 2011 at 6:27 am and is filed under Community, On the Job, Sports, Walleye hockey.
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If you read Toledo Walleye right winger Adam Keefe’s stat line for last season, not too many numbers would jump out.

In his defense, Keefe’s season didn’t start until the middle of February, but the short time span still allowed the 26-year-old to gain the reputation as an enforcer on a ice for the Walleye.

“I like to be physical out there,” Keefe said. “You have to fight, scratch and claw every single night out there, because everyone is fighting for a job. I try not to back down from anyone out there.”

Perhaps best defined as a journeyman, Keefe has played for three teams in the American Hockey League (AHL). He also played for the Toledo Storm during the 2005-2006 season. No matter where he has been, it is Keefe’s physical brand of hockey that has stood out.

In just 24 games last season, the Brampton, Ontario, native garnered 107 penalty minutes, which put him at greater than 1,000 cumulative penalty minutes for his career. But Keefe’s addition late in the season last year was just what the Walleye needed.

Due to several promotions to the Walleye’s respective AHL teams, the new franchise severely was left depleted. It was Keefe’s enthusiasm and energy though that helped spark the team into the ECHL playoffs in the team’s first year of existence.

“I really didn’t know what to expect when I came in here,” he said. “I think the organization was happy to make it to the playoffs being the first season, but we weren’t happy because we wanted to win the playoffs.”

Keefe responded in the playoffs for the team. He recorded his first hat trick of his career against the Charlotte Checkers on April 6 of last season, and his great play was one of the reasons the Walleye re-signed him after the completion of last season.

Head coach Nick Vitucci said that despite Keefe’s short season last year, his play stood out to the organization.

“Adam is a heart and soul kind of player,” Vitucci said. “He has a great work ethic, and to me, he is the best kind of player to have.”

Keefe is one the few guarantees when it comes to personnel on the roster. With so much unknown about the final makeup of this team, the winger has been counted on as a leader to set the tone in the locker room.

“To me, it is about winning a championship,” Keefe said. “We need to take that next step as a team.”

Vitucci said that Keefe’s focus and determination have been the reason he is considered a core leader for the Walleye.

“These guys know that Adam is going to give them everything he has out on the ice on a daily basis,” he said. “He is one of our core guys on this team, and I think it is great that the whole core is focused on winning a championship season. Those guys make it really easy to follow them.”

Keefe is not just popular in the Walleye locker room either. His physical brand of hockey has made him a favorite among fans.

“The fan atmosphere here in Toledo is second to none,” Keefe said. “We always get excited to come out and play in front of these great fans, and it is really something that makes coming into our building intimidating when you have 8,000-plus fans here ready to cheer us on.”

With the season rapidly approaching, Keefe is ready to get back in action.

“I am excited to get going again,” he said. “I really have worked hard in the offseason, and I am looking forward to this season.”

For Keefe and the Walleye, this season is also about bringing another championship back to the Glass City.

“We are a talented team, and in my opinion, the sky is the limit. We have the guys here, and if we play our hockey, nobody can stop us.”

Tags: Adam Keefe, Nick Vitucci, Toledo Walleye

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 7th, 2010 at 5:50 pm and is filed under Sports, Walleye hockey.
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