Upstream With Walleye Head Coach Nick Vitucci #5
If you'd like to submit a question for Coach Vitucci please fill out our form. Check back to www.toledowalleye.com often to see if Nick answers your question!
Nick, do you have inspirations on raising your son in your footsteps with hockey? - Patti Leitenberger (Dayton, OH)
Like most parents, I would like my son to compete in some sort of sport. I think tremendous life lessons can be learned when kids are involved in sports. My son is following my footsteps - as he is competing with a Mite hockey travel team, as a goalie. The position is not by dad's choice though... it was all his.
Coach, what is a typical day on the road like? When would you leave after a game or practice? Is it a challenge to get rest and physical training away from your home facilities? Good luck next year, I'll be following you from overseas. – Rich Curadi (US Army, Cheshire, CT)
Richard, thanks for the question - and best of luck to you in your travels. A typical day on the road would begin with a morning practice around 11 am. If it was a game day we would normally go through a 30-45 minute practice. Shooting drills, some flow drills and some specifics to prepare for the team were playing. After practice we'll normally go and get lunch – we always try to have pasta! We then head back to the hotel for a little R&R. We arrive, by bus, to the rink - normally about two hours before the game. Players get their sticks in order, stretch and get dressed. We usually have a pre-game meeting with the players to go over the game plan - then it's on to the ice for warm-ups - - - then its showtime!
What type of player is the easiest to coach? The hardest? – Joe (Toledo, OH)
The easiest type of player to coach is a grinder. I consider a grinder as a player who puts his head down, rolls up his sleeves and goes to work. Former player Bracken Kearns is the best example of a player who is easy to coach. An inherently smart player who just needed some minor direction…and away he went.
I find the hardest players to coach are offensively gifted players - guys who find scoring goals a lot more important then playing defense. Usually these players are leaving junior and college teams where their job was just to score. I have an easier time coaching the more well-rounded players as opposed to the one-dimensional players.
What's the toughest part of your job? – Eric Bronson (Moline, OH)
Trying to find out information on prospective players is sometimes a challenge. Dealing with player's attitudes and mindsets is hard at times, too, but the toughest part of my job is having to look a player in the eye and tell him that he's been released or traded.
What's it like to play the Alaska Aces in Alaska? – John Vedder (Troy, MI)
It's cold and windy up there – but one thing I noticed is how, despite the weather, they still have outdoor rinks everywhere!
I remember walking into their arena and saying 'WOW!' Whereas the Sports Arena's ice surface was probably 10 feet narrower then a regulation rink, Alaska's rink (an Olympic-sized rink) is 15 foot wider. That makes it 25 feet wider then what were used to in Toledo. It was pretty neat to see Anchorage and all the snow capped mountains but was it ever a long flight back to Toledo.
Ask The Coach
If you'd like to submit a question for Coach Vitucci please fill out our form. Check back to www.toledowalleye.com often to see if Nick answers your question!
