The Walleye signed goaltender Jeremy Brodeur, the son of NHL legend Martin Brodeur, to an amateur tryout agreement Friday.
The 20-year-old Brodeur, who recently wrapped up a junior career, backed up goaltender Jeff Lerg in Game 1 of the Central Division finals against Fort Wayne on Friday.
Martin Brodeur appeared in 1,266 games in the NHL.
Jeremy Brodeur spent the past three years with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League. In the playoffs, he posted a 5-4 record with a 3.33 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. In his OHL career, Brodeur has a record of 70-40-9 with a 2.80 GAA.
The native of Essex Falls, N.J., won a career-best 33 games this past season with just 14 losses, posting a 2.84 GAA.
The Walleye signed Brodeur because of an injury to No. 1 goaltender Jake Paterson. In Game 7 of Toledo’s first-round series Tuesday against Kalamazoo, Paterson suffered a lower-body injury. Paterson was expected to miss the first two games of the second-round series Friday and today. He will be re-evaluated early next week.
AWARD: The Walleye organization also was presented with the ECHL’s 2016-17 Best Ice Award.
The winner is determined in a vote of ECHL coaches, focusing on staffs that provide the best playing surfaces. Criteria include the quality of the ice, temperature of the building, and surrounding dasher board system.
Steve Miller, the general manager of the Huntington Center, said the organization is proud to be recognized with the award.
“Our operations manager, Jesus Rivera, works hard with his team to keep the ice in great shape throughout the season,” Miller said. “We take pride in the compliments we receive from both the Toledo Walleye players and coaches and the visiting teams.”
Joe Ernst, the ECHL’s vice president of hockey operations, said the award recognizes the hard-working crews in the league.
“Our game is predicated on having a playing surface of the utmost integrity so that our players can perform at their highest level and our fans enjoy quality entertainment,” Ernst said.
REST ASSURED: The Walleye entered the second round coming off a grueling seven-game series against Kalamazoo, while Fort Wayne has had six days of rest.
Toledo has had just two days off since eliminating the K-Wings. The Komets knocked out Quad City in five games and advanced in the Kelly Cup playoffs with a win Sunday.
“Sometimes it's good for teams to keep on a roll,” Walleye coach Dan Watson said. “At this time of year, guys are working on adrenaline. Sometimes having a whole week off can hurt. We are a good team when we are rolling. Our guys can feed of that Game 7. It can give us a spark. Maybe we can catch them on a rest and get a jump on them.”
But Watson said the bottom line for his team is to play the right way.
“We have to keep playing sound hockey,” Watson said. “It's about puck management and not giving them opportunities. We have to keep moving offensively.”
ATTENDANCE: Toledo and Fort Wayne finished first and second, respectively, in the ECHL in overall attendance during the regular season.
The Komets led the league with an average crowd of 7,568. The Walleye finished second with an average attendance of 7,074 per game.
But Toledo leads the ECHL in attendance in the playoffs. A total of 27,607 have come to the four games at the Huntington Center (6,902 per contest). Fort Wayne ranks third with an average crowd of 5,902.
Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354 or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.
First Published April 29, 2017, 4:38 a.m.
