Former Viper Volpatti Scores First Career NHL Goal:

This was in yesterdays Revelestoke Newspaper:

Aaron Volpatti scores first career NHL goal

By Alex Cooper - Revelstoke Times Review

Published: December 20, 2010

Revelstoke-native Aaron Volpatti scored the first goal of his NHL career in a 3-1 victory of his Vancouver Canucks over the St. Louis Blues.

Volpatti scored the Canucks first goal of the game at 7:12 of the second period after linemate Tanner Glass forced a turnover with a big hit deep in the Blues zone.

The puck went to centre Alexandre Bolduc who passed it in front of the net to a wide open Volpatti. Volpatti collected the pass and buried the shot past Blues' goalie Jaroslav Halak. You can watch a replay of the goal in the video above.

The goal game in Volpatti's second NHL game. He made his NHL debut Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada.

Volpatti was called up by the Canucks on Dec. 16 to complete the team’s fourth line. In his NHL debut he wore number 54 and played left-wing alongside Alexandre Bolduc and Tanner Glass.

His official stats line for the game reads nine shifts, 4:57 in ice time, one shot on goal and one hit. His first shift started 3:14 into the game and resulted in a hit on Maple Leafs defenceman Carl Gunnarsson. At 8:05 of the second period he deflected a shot on net that was stopped by Leafs’ goalie Jonas Gustavsson.

Due to the Canucks travel schedule, the Times Review was unable to contact Volpatti to talk about his call up.

The hard hitting forward was signed by the Canucks last March after a successful college hockey career for Brown University.

He played 13 regular season and playoff games for the Manitoba Moose, the Canucks minor league affiliate, at the end of last season, during which he scored two goals, one assist and racked up 38 penalty minutes.

After skating in the Vancouver Canucks training camp this September, he re-joined the Moose, where he has amassed six assists in 26 games this season.

His parents, Tony and Lana, were interviewed live on CBC during the game, with rival fans around them chanting “Go Canucks Go!” and “Go Leafs Go!”

“It’s a beautiful Christmas present,” Tony told Elliotte Friedman.

Added Lana: “I’m speechless, this is awesome. It’s a dream come true for all of us.”

On Sunday he and his new Canucks’ teammates flew to St. Louis to take on the Blues. In the game he saw his ice time increase to 8:21 and recorded three hits to go along with his goal.

Volpatti is expected to remain with the Canucks throughout their three game, pre-Christmas road trip, meaning he will break Bruce Holloway’s 25-year-old record for most games played by a Revelstokian.

Holloway played two games with the Canucks in the 1984-85 season. They are the only two Revelstoke natives to play in the NHL.