Wingels Effort Leaves Lasting Impressions

When the playoffs have a west coast flavor, the intensity spikes, the stakes are raised and, it’s been said, the people back east go to sleep.

No matter how late the hours, whether it be a 10:30 local time faceoff or an overtime that stretches into the wee hours of the morning, the Sharks maintain an ardent supporter in the southwestern corner of Ohio.

As most of the world around him is tucked into bed, Miami University’s longtime hockey coach, Enrico Blasi, remains plugged in to cheer for one of his all-time favorite former players, Tommy Wingels.

“I keep an eye on the guys,” Blasi recently told sjsharks.com. “If they play well or score a big goal, if they get a big win, I try to text them as much as I can. I try to leave them alone, as much as possible, in the middle of a series. I’m proud of our guys, including Tommy. He was our captain. We spent a lot of time together.”

“He would come over to the house for dinner. At the time, my daughters were young. He would get down on his knees and play knee hockey with them. Those are the kinds of things that has made Tommy who he is …

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