Former Viper Volpatti Called Up From Moose For Toronto Tussle:

This was in yesterdays Vancouver Province Newspaper:

Rypien-like Volpatti called up from Moose for Toronto tussle

By Gordon McIntyre, The Province December 16, 2010

The Canucks called up the Manitoba Moose grinder to follow Jonas Andersson in auditioning for a fourth-line spot.

Ever since Volpatti, a Revelstoke native, appeared at prospects camp in Penticton, a 24-year-old man among teenaged boys, running roughshod over them and popping pucks into the net, a cult following has sprouted.

In fact, more than one session of a Province Sports live chat has been peppered by questions and comments regarding the former Vernon Viper.

Stan Smyl and the scouting staff kept an eye on Volpatti last season, his senior year with the Brown Bears, where he scored 17 goals in 37 games.

The NHL club signed the free agent in March and in his first game with the Moose last spring, at Abbotsford, he scored a goal and got in a fight.

But it was in another game at Abbotsford, a couple of weeks ago with several of the Canucks brass in attendance, that Volpatti really made an impression.

Mitch Wahl was cutting across the middle of the ice with the puck when Volpatti crushed the Flames prospect.

Volpatti then won a take-down over Joe Piskula, who has three inches and 30 pounds on the 6-foot, 185-pound Volpatti; and Wahl, who suffered a broken cheekbone, was taken off the ice on a stretcher.

“What we saw was how he needs to play up here," associate coach Rick Bowness said. “He's a physical player, he gets in on the forecheck and he's another guy who antagonizes the opposition.

“He'll finish his checks and be a pain in the butt, hard to play against, and that's an ingredient we need righ tnow.”

Like a couple of Moose before him, Volpatti has no fear, fighting above his weight class as Kevin Bieksa used to and Rick Rypien does when he is able to play.

“He'll stick his nose in anywhere, sometimes when it's not the wisest decision,” Winnipeg Free Press hockey writer Tim Campbell said. “He won't turn away from any check”

His coach at Brown, Brendan Whittat, has compared Volpatti to Tanner Glass, whom Whittat helped coach down the vine from Brown at Dartmouth.

“He plays the game hard and finishes all his checks,” Whittat said last season. “He's one of the hardest hitters in college hockey.”

The question is whether Volpatti can get there to do any damage in the NHL, whether he can keep up with the fleeter Glasses and Jannik Hansens.

Volpatti will play wing with Alec Bolduc and Glass Saturday against Toronto (do we see a showdown between him and another undrafted forward, Colton Orr?).

Bolduc last centred Volpatti (and Victor Oreskovich) on a seek-and-destroy shutdown line during a conditioning stint with the Moose.

“He's a grinder, a good skater,” Bolduc said. “We made some good plays down there and it was fun playing with him.

“Our job on the fourth line is to crash and bang and he does that well.”

And if it doesn't work out, let the Oreskovich watch begin.