Demolition player truly at home in Hara


SEASON OPENER

7:30 p.m. today, Port Huron Prowlers vs. Dayton Demolition

With the unseasonably warm, 70-degree day in November — and the bay door on the rear loading dock wide open — a veil of fog rose off the sheet of hockey ice in Hara Arena.

But it didn’t matter to Brett Wall. It couldn’t obstruct his wondrous view of the past.

“I started going to hockey games in this arena when I was 3 years old,” he said. “I used to sit up there in Section 12 with my parents.

“When they’d get me and my brother a baby-sitter instead, I used to bawl my eyes out and go, ‘I want to go to the game!’

“Finally the next year they broke down and bought me a season ticket, too. And man, I loved it here. I had a little Dayton Bombers jersey and I remember how they used to have those I-75 and I-70 battles with the teams from Columbus and Toledo.

“One of my heroes was Ray Edwards. He was one of the Bombers players who went out of his way with me when I was a little kid.

“I can remember going in the concourse after games and getting autographs from the players and getting to talk to them. When you’re a little kid, it means everything to get a fist bump, a high five, just a smile and a simple hello from a pro athlete. It’s something you never forget.

“Before my fourth birthday my parents asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I told ‘em a hockey player. And then I woke up the morning of my birthday and they had skates and equipment waiting for me.

“Right then, that’s where it all started.”

Wall was recalling all this the other day as he sat just off the tunnel leading from the Hara Arena ice back to the dressing room and the quarters of the latest hockey revival in this storied old arena, the Dayton Demolition, who open their season tonight at 7:30 against the Port Huron Prowlers, an expansion team created when the Dayton Demonz were moved to Michigan after last season.

Wall played for the Demonz last season and tonight will go up against many of his old teammates.

A 25-year-old player/coach for the Demolition, he’s a 5-foot-9, 185-pound forward who will assist head coach Jack Collins.

“I’ve known Jack my entire life,” he said “When I started playing on the Mini Mites team in the Dayton Bombers Youth Hockey program, he was a Bombers coach who used to volunteer to work with the kids sometimes.

“I can’t stress enough how Jack has been a big role model for me over the years. And who would have ever guessed that I’d be alongside him on the bench now?

“But that’s my story. Some 20 years ago I said I wanted to be a hockey player and here I am, back in my hometown, back in Hara Arena and my mom and dad (Penny and Mike) and my grandma (Brenda Sherman) and everybody else will be up there in the stands.

“I love Hara Arena.”

A first-round pick

Wall grew up around the Miami Valley, living in North Dayton and West Carrollton and mostly in Huber Heights, where he went to Weisenborn Middle School.

He and his younger brother Garrett played youth hockey in the arena — their dad was one of their coaches — but by the time Brett became a teenager he said he was looking to expand his hockey horizons:

“One of my youth coaches told my mom that by the time I was 13 or 14, I had to make some decisions. If I wanted an opportunity to explore more of what was out there in hockey and play against better competition, I might have to move somewhere else.”

He started playing with a team in Indianapolis and would commute there during the week while he went to school here. On the weekends, he’d move there and live with a host family.

“When I was a freshman in high school, I got the opportunity to attend a prep school in Chicago — Lake Forest Academy,” he said. “I lived in a dorm there with kids from all around the world. It was great for academics and hockey. My main goal was to play college hockey and it prepared me for that.”

After playing junior hockey for a season in Minnesota, he got a scholarship to Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Michigan’s smallest public university, Lake Superior has an NCAA Division I hockey program that regularly draws 3,500 to 5,000 people to its arena for games, Wall said: “We play teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame and Miami.”

The Lakers have won five national titles (three NCAA, two NAIA) and have sent over 20 players to the NHL.

After graduating with a degree in sports management and marketing, Wall was taken in the first round of the 2013 Federal Hockey League draft by the Demonz.

In his two seasons in Dayton, he played an integral part in the Demonz playoff run to the league crown in 2014 and was a fixture again last season.

When the Demonz were relocated to Port Huron and it looked as if Dayton might not have a team this year, Wall — although not one of the protected players guaranteed a job in the move — planned to stick with his old team and pack up for Michigan.

Hara always ‘home’

It wasn’t until mid-July that Bill Dadds, a New Jersey electrical contractor who was the new owner of the Berkshire Battalion team in North Adams, Mass., announced he was relocating the franchise in Dayton.

A dispute in the rink agreement in North Adams precipitated the move.

Soon after that Wall said he got a call from Collins: “Jack said, ‘Hey we’ve got an opportunity to make you a player/coach.’ ”

Wall jumped at the chance and soon was working alongside Collins to put together a roster.

Along with Wall, the Demolition added two other former Demonz: Brian Marks, the defender who had served as team captain the past two years, and right winger Cody Milligan.

Eight former Berkshire players were signed — including high-scoring forwards Vadim Guskov of Russia and Martin Uhnak of Slovakia and Canadian goalkeeper Louie George — and the rest of the team was picked off the waiver wire and from the college ranks.

As for his role, Wall explained: “Jack’s been around the game so long and coached at such a high level that I wouldn’t say he needs much help. I’ll just add my input from a player’s standpoint, both on the ice and the bench. I’ll just be an extra set of eyes.”

Wall said he’s looking forward to this season and again stressed how he “loves” Hara Arena.

“It will always be my home,” he said. “I’ve got a real appreciation for this place and all the unique things that happened here.

“Did you know Wayne Gretzky played his first professional game here, a (1978) exhibition? And there’s so much history with all the concerts (the Jacksons to Guy Lombardo) and the sporting events (including big-time wrestling with Bobo Brazil, Ox Baker and The Shiek).

“The main thing for me, though, is that this is where I grew up. And that’s why it means so much being back here now

“There are so few hockey teams and to get a spot anywhere, you should cherish it and be thankful.

“For me, it’s a blessing to be home again. It all started for me right up there in Section 12. And now I’m back here again.

“I ended up with a lot more of the dream than I ever could have asked for.”

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