Panthers volunteer does it all
Aidan Iannandrea can usually be found in one of two locations at the Meridian Community Centre in Pelham.
The 20-year-old Welland native does a little bit of everything for the Pelham Panthers, from working as their equipment manager to announcing their home games on HockeyTV.
“I just basically couldn’t skate growing up and I’ve been around sports, so I figured if I couldn’t play I might as well work for a team and do something that doesn’t involve being out on the ice,” the Notre Dame graduate said.
Iannandrea joined the Panthers four years ago and began working in the dressing room.
“I run the equipment so if they break a stick during a game I go grab it and after games do laundry and make sure everything is good to go,” he said. “I do the water bottles in between periods and make sure everything is running smoothly.”
His announcing duties with the Panthers came about after helping Spencer Tanguay, manager and communications and media with the Welland Jackfish of the Intercounty Baseball League, behind the mic at the ball park.
“I picked it up really quickly,” Iannandrea said. “My dad did it so I watched some of his old videos and picked up some of his slang terms and got it down.”
Panthers owner/coach Tim Toffolo was happy to help Iannandrea indulge in his passion.
“Aidan has been dedicated to being with us since he came in,” Toffolo said. “He had a passion to be involved with the team and he also had a passion to announce and to broadcast games. It was something we weren’t doing and no one in our league was really doing so I thought let’s go for it.
“He just keeps on getting better and better at it. It adds a different element to our Hockey TV. It makes it a lot more interesting. You’re not watching something in silence. He’s been learning over the years and doing a great job.”
Managing the equipment can be a thankless job but that doesn’t bother Iannandrea.
“It’s hard to keep everything in order and make sure you don’t lose anything, especially when we’re on the road to make sure everything comes back with us,” he said. “You need to have a good memory to keep track of everything.”
Iannandrea said the Panthers don’t take his hard work for granted.
“They all thank me after every game. They really do appreciate it,” he said.
Iannandrea isn’t sure if either of his roles with the Panthers will lead to anything down the road, but added he is leaning toward working in the dressing room.
The Panthers, 12-30-2, have dropped 13 in a row and have been decimated with injuries.
“Over the last month we’ve had as many as 10 guys out of our lineup,” Toffolo said. “Words can’t describe what it’s been like for the last month. Every time we turn around someone else was leaving the ice with an injury. These were our key players and we really felt we had a legitimate shot at playing Fort Erie in the first round and getting there.
“It’s tons of adversity but this week we do have everybody on the ice skating this week and hoping by Sunday we have some returnees.”
The Panthers host the Caledonia Corvairs Sunday at 2:45 p.m. and then have three more games remaining in their regular season schedule.
“We’re hoping we can get back to some semblance of a normal squad. We’re just going to have to worry about the playoffs and what we can do there now,” Toffolo said.
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