The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe has posted a Christmas Day column which discusses the Toledo Walleye’s Winterfest activities at Fifth Third Field in Toledo:
From remembering legends of the past to honoring its outdoor roots, Winterfest has become a tremendous celebration of Toledo hockey.
The 18-day event centered around an outdoor rink constructed on the Mud Hens’ baseball diamond continues this week. A Toledo Hockey Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on Wednesday and an alumni game pitting former Detroit Red Wings greats against Toledo’s legends will be held on Thursday.
Mickey Redmond, the beloved Red Wings television color commentator who also played for Detroit for six seasons, will play in the alumni game at 6:30 Thursday night.
“I’m looking forward to being in the great hockey town of Toledo and seeing all the Winterfest activities. It doesn’t get any better than that,” Redmond said.
The Walleye were the first ECHL organization to ever hold an outdoor game in 2014-15 and seven years later enthusiasm for the sequel has only grown. The Walleye will once again play two outdoor games. Toledo hosts Kalamazoo on Sunday and will take on Indy on Dec. 31 — the first New Year’s Eve game in the organization’s history.
“During the recruiting process, Winterfest was a selling point to potential players,” Walleye coach Dan Watson said. “As a staff, we are excited and we’re looking forward to playing at Fifth Third Field.”
