Holy Toledo Sports Edition
Behind the scenes stories from the Toledo Mud Hens, Toledo Walleye, and Hensville that spotlight the people, partnerships, and impact shaping the Glass City.
Holy Toledo Sports Edition
#016 Adam Wozniak - Toledo Walleye
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
The 2025-2026 Equipment Manager of the Year, Adam Wozniak, and host, Brad Rieger, talk all things Walleye and how Adam started his career in hockey.
Hi everyone and welcome to Holy Tweedle Sports Edition. Today we have a great guest, and it is Adam Wozniak. And Adam is the head equipment manager for the Tweedle Walleye. And all of us know people who work behind the scenes to make other people successful, make the organization organization successful. And Adam is one of those guys, and I really enjoyed getting to know him, and I think you will too.
SPEAKER_02Thanks for having me. I'm excited.
SPEAKER_03So we're gonna uh explore kind of your role as the uh the head equipment manager and get to know what that's all about and also get to know a little bit more about you. So really appreciate you willing to do this. And you grew up in Northwest Ohio playing and watching hockey. Uh when and how did you get introduced to the game of hockey?
SPEAKER_02So I've always played roller hockey my whole life. Um it's just been a part of me. My cousins play hockey, so we're always you know out in the driveway playing and and what have you. And uh so my never played ice hockey until junior and senior of high school. I played at lake hockey. It was that club team, uh, kind of just took everyone that they could, and I was one of them.
SPEAKER_03What positions you play?
SPEAKER_02Forward, forward, yeah, and a lot of bench too. Um, so I then then I was just as I was playing, I was trying to better myself. I again I'd never played ice before, I was terrible on ice. Um, so just doing little things to my gear, tweaking this, that, trying different sticks, and do whatever I can to get better, and that's kind of what snowballed into uh where we're at today.
SPEAKER_03You get you you develop an interest in equipment. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So that's how that, yeah, that's how the interest started.
SPEAKER_03Got it. Uh any men's league play still?
SPEAKER_02Of course. Yeah. Down in Bowling Green, we have a good group of guys down there play together, and uh again, still playing roller hockey um out at the GTIHL, Greater Sleet Open Hockey League. Just started a team out there and having a lot of fun with that.
SPEAKER_03Same with your in your youth. I mean, you're pretty young now, but even younger days. Uh, who what players or teams did you uh root for?
SPEAKER_02Um always the Red Wings, always a big Red Wings fan. Um, but now I know we're probably gonna get into a little bit here, but uh I've had a lot of talent in the OHL that have gone on to play in the NHL now. So now I'm I'm more of a fan of theirs instead of a particular team.
SPEAKER_03Particular team, yeah, got it. All right. So um you you got a fascination for equipment. And at some point, when did you realize you wanted to work in a hockey setting?
SPEAKER_02Uh I would say right after high school when I got done playing, I realized that that was kind of the end of the road for me as far as my playing career goes. Um, that I was able to obviously find this as a different avenue to stay in the game and in the locker room and and all that fun stuff. So uh yeah, I think just right after high school, realizing that my playing career was over.
SPEAKER_03And you started officially with the wall in 2016, but you had some lead up to that. Like you did some volunteer work and you expressed interest in helping here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, exactly. So uh at right after high uh graduation, I stayed with Lake as their equipment guy, coach, just getting free ice hanging around the guys and going to games and stuff like that. And then uh I emailed the the old equipment manager Dave um and asked if he had any openings. I could ask if I can come down and shadow him for a day. Um the walleye. The walleye, yeah, sorry. Yes. Um, so uh went came down for just a a day to shadow them and see how everything works. And then the following year is when he had an opening and um yeah, four years of helping him out, and that's been good.
SPEAKER_03When did you buy your own um ice uh skate sharpening machine? When did you buy that?
SPEAKER_02Was that it was yeah, so it was after that that first year when I knew like, okay, this is what I wanted to do, and I had to, you know, figure things out. Um, I bought a uh machine off Craigslist, awesome guy in a back alley, and it was um not the best one. So I I learned a lot just trying to figure things out and get it to where it needed to be to be able to sharpen skates and was just sharpening skates in my parents' garage for the longest time and um figuring everything out as we went.
SPEAKER_03Who'd you sharpen skates for? Guys that you were playing men's league with and high school players, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so all the like late kids and then anyone else who needed a good sharpening.
SPEAKER_03And what is it about um skate sharp? It's a skill, right? It's a you you have to be able to what is it that you had to learn that perfect that?
SPEAKER_02Okay, so yeah, so um it's it's easy to do and it's also easy to mess up. So the guys are skating on two edges, it's almost like an upside-down U on the bottom of the skate blade. And in order to have a good sharpening, you want to make sure those edges are even and as well as kind of perfecting the last pass on the sharpening wheel to get it nice and smooth. That way guys aren't feeling choppy on the ice. Or there's there's a lot, a lot that goes into having a good sharpening.
unknownGot it.
SPEAKER_03And you that sharpening skills got you that uh assistant job here at the at the walleye back in 2016, and you were there four years. Um, and then I believe COVID intervened, and it then that's what took you to Saginaw as the head equipment manager there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. So, right when when COVID happens, um, obviously the the walleye didn't play that year, um, and I found another job working down at the docks um here in Toledo unloading ships. Um, and as I was going through that, I was realized that I was really missing the game and I had to be part of it. So uh was trying to find anywhere else I could go and and Saginaw was lucky enough, or I was lucky enough that Saginaw took the um the jump and and hired me, and it was a great, great experience up there.
SPEAKER_03Before I ask about Saginaw, unloading at the dock seems like a tough job.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it was it was a lot of actually just forklift work. So there would be guys inside of the boat, it was uh a lot of like aluminum scraps that were melted into like these molded whatever huge chunks of aluminum that you could pick up with a forklift. So they would there's a group that was in the the shipping container or the the ship, and they would just bring it to the edge and we'd go pick it up and put it where you needed to go. Um but that was a lot of long hours, and and um one day you'd be working days, next day you'd be working nights, depending when the ship would come in. Um so that was definitely an interesting, interesting job.
SPEAKER_03So when you're driving downtown around mommy and you see a big ship come in, you have a different perspective than most of us, right?
SPEAKER_02Yep. I'm usually like, oh, I'm glad I'm not down there right now.
SPEAKER_03All right, back to Saginaw. So you go there, you're there for two years. What did you learn there that's now that you're the head guy?
SPEAKER_02Uh I learned a ton. Um, I I grew a lot um up there um just from like, for example, just that when we got the jerseys in, they only had the Saginaw logo on the front. So I had to he press the numbers and make the name bars for the players and sew all that down. And I really didn't know too much about sewing, and I I learned very quick up there. Um, and then again, uh just perfecting that sharpening skill, um, working with like a full-blown machine um instead of just the little one out of my parents' garage was definitely a a difference. But uh, and two traveling on the road and what I need to pack and making sure everything's there and just learning how to take care of the players for sure.
SPEAKER_03And then the uh position here in Tweedo opens up and it just made sense to pivot back.
SPEAKER_02Uh yeah, exactly. It's I couldn't wait to come back and be home because uh obviously I'm from the area, and not many people in our field get to say that they are working for their hometown team. It's it's very special.
SPEAKER_03I meant to ask you when you were a kid, did you go to a lot of walleye games?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, definitely. Oh yeah, almost every weekend.
SPEAKER_03Every weekend, yeah. All right, you were a frequent flyer. Yeah, definitely. Got it. All right, so now you got this uh you're the head man here, and then you came here in 2023. Just for all I think I have a basic concept of what your main duties are, but kind of give us uh a view of what your responsibilities are.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I would say my responsibilities are almost endless. Um, I think anything description there. Yeah, right, right, right. Um, so anything the fans see on the ice has come through my hands, my office um at some point one or another, uh, whether it be skates, jerseys, sticks, it all comes through my hands, my office. So um that's definitely it gives you a broad idea. But I would say just a lot of things that people don't see are the hours that we put in. Um on game days, I get there at eight o'clock. We set up for morning skate, we morning skate, and then we uh reset the locker room for the game, and then even after the game, we get all the laundry done and set the room for the next day. So game days are long, usually 8 a.m. till maybe 11:30 midnight most of the days. Um a couple hours of downtime, but other than that, it's it's go, go, go all the time, making sure everything's ready to go.
SPEAKER_03What do you find to be the most rewarding aspect of your job?
SPEAKER_02Um just the gratitude from the guys and everyone else around us, like um just a thank you goes a long way for for all of us. Um so that's always nice. It's just being around the players and letting like knowing that we're doing a good job taking care of them is very rewarding.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03There's always headaches and challenges to every job. What's what's one that kind of you have to deal with on a frequent basis?
SPEAKER_02Everyone's gonna love this answer. So I was gonna say specialty jerseys are my biggest headache. Um, just the amount that that we do is is awesome. It's great cause and and everything.
SPEAKER_03So those marketing guys are creating a lot of work for you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. So uh it's just but there's just a lot that goes in into the scenes behind it. Um making sure our w our roster changes every week. So we have to keep up on all the rosters and all the names that come in um as we're working through and coming up to the specialty jerseys over the weekend. Um, that that week leading up to it is is a lot of uh cross and t's and dot and i's.
SPEAKER_03Uh you're in a leadership role, Adam. What uh leadership skills do you feel are really important in order for you to be successful in what you do?
SPEAKER_02For leadership for me is leading by example. Um, I'm always working hard and and doing everything I can to see that my assistants are also working and they're seeing me do a good job, and that means that they can do a good job. Um, and then two, I have two assistants now that are up in the AHL as assistants, and then one I had in Saginaw is now the head guy in Saginaw. So seeing my leadership and what I what I was able to help them do is is again very rewarding for me.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, for sure. Uh the players are your main referent point, right? And um they all have personal preferences. I I guess there's probably standardization, there's certain standardization to equipment, right? But then when you work with players, there's all kinds of nuances. Adam, how do you keep track of all those personal preferences?
SPEAKER_02A lot of it is just up in my brain for me. Um, I have I do have an Excel sheet of of all of our players and what size gear they need and everything like that, but a lot of it is um just kind of remember you you do it so much during the year that it almost becomes easy to to you know to take care of, I would say.
SPEAKER_03And in terms of equipment, what are players most particular about equipment-wise in general?
SPEAKER_02Um, in general, I'm gonna say sticks, because those are kind of always changing from league to league. Um, our AHL guys are using CCM and we're using Warrior. Um, we get guys from college that are using True or other brands like that. So that's the thing that kind of changes the most for the guys is their sticks. Um, but as far as like skates and anything else, um it remains pretty constant to where like they can wear their stuff from college or like underneath, like every other shoulder pads, elbow pads, everything like that. Um that kind of stays the same. Um, but uh yeah, that's the sticks are kind of the most variable option, I guess.
SPEAKER_03It strikes me that the players are really uh rely on you um to take care of their tools or their trade, right? They can only be successful. So um how do you, Adam, establish a really positive working relationship with just about everyone in the locker room? Well, everyone in the locker room.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um just that always having the positive relationship as far as like um my knowledge, I would say. Um just being confident in what I'm telling the guys, and and that can go a long way. Um, just for example, I like to going back to the sharpening thing. Um, I can squeak their sharpen here or there to maybe help them perform better on the ice. Once I do that, they're like, oh wow, maybe he knows what he's talking about, right? Right. Um, so again, that that gets easier too, is just having that confidence and um just helping the guys out and whatever they need.
SPEAKER_03What's uh um a unique whatever you can share, a unique preference over your 10 years that a player has expressed to you that took some work to make happen.
SPEAKER_02Um this this past recent year, uh Colin Sawyer was very particular about his blades. It was uh so I I run three sets of blades per guy. Um just how the rotation kind of works. And if one set was the littlest, littlest bit higher, he'd be able to tell. I have not had anyone else that'd be able to tell. He'd give you feedback. He'd give me feedback. He said, No, these are different blades, I don't want them. Okay, you yep, you're right. They were. Um so that took a while to get dialed in, uh, but eventually we did towards the end of the year, and uh um he was good after that. But yeah, that was definitely one of the the shocking points. It was just I mean the slightest, slightest bit of difference he could tell.
SPEAKER_03Uh talk a little bit more about the the roster change. Yeah, so if someone gets um signed for by the walleye on Tuesday and on Wednesday, they're gonna be on the ice. What does that mean for you and your team?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so getting someone set up to to come in is um a weekly thing. We get our roster changes every week. Um, if we get a guy from a trade, I'll reach out to the other equip manager from the team that he came from, get all of the sizing that he needs, and we can get all the gear ready to go. Um, sometimes we're we're on the road, so I have multiple bags of extra gear that we would anything that we would need, I bring with us just because you never know. Um, but yeah, it just starts from the very moment that Pat tells me we're bringing in a new guy, I do my research, um, whether it be with again with his old team or just looking him up on the internet and kind of getting an idea of what size he's he could need. Um, and even reaching out to the player and be like, hey, like welcome to the team. What can I do for you? What is there anything in particular that you need? Um, so that's always a constant change.
SPEAKER_03So you're one of the first points of contact in many cases.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. I would say obviously that like the coaches are you know, work out the contracts and stuff with them, and then I would be probably their second. Because then Pat would send me their contact info, and then we get the ball rolling on what they need to get on the ice.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03If you look back over your 10 years, um what what's been the most chaotic or high pressure moment where it seemed like all eyes were on you and everything depended on you right now?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh, real quick. 10 years went by very fast. It's it's crazy. I think this is my tenth season working hockey. It's it's really cool. But uh, I got two of them. So when I was up in Saginaw, it was game seven of our um series with Flint Firebirds, and third period, my goalie's blade pops out of his skate. So it blade pops out, he makes a crazy good save, whistle blows, and I noticed that his blade's out. So I run on the ice, and it takes me forever to get it back in. I couldn't figure it out because there's snow built up in like the track where the blade sits, right? And I couldn't get the blade to go back in, and and it took what felt like an hour.
SPEAKER_03Was it at home or what it was at home, luckily? So no booze came out.
SPEAKER_02No, no, no. Um, and I was lucky enough that the refs let me uh to let me figure it out as as long as they did because it it took way longer than than I should have. That was definitely the highest pressure situation I've been mid-game so far. Um, and then another one, going back to Special Jerseys, we got uh Michael Prapavestis was my first year here, and that's it's a very long name. I couldn't get a name bar in in time for the weekend, so I was going through all the jerseys that we didn't need of players that you know, whatever um extra jerseys that we had, cutting up names and trying to get it figured out so you'd have a name bar for the game. And of course, Prapavestus was a lot of peas and a lot of that was definitely a high pressure situation because obviously we need he needs a name bar to get on the ice. So without the name bar, you wouldn't be able to play. So that was definitely uh one another one that was hectic.
SPEAKER_03Give us a little bit more detail on um a game at Huntington Center, a seven o'clock game. You say you start at eight in the morning. Take us a little bit more through everything that you and your team do, all the way up to opening face-off.
unknownSure.
SPEAKER_02Uh yeah. So again, we get there at eight of the morning and and set up the the locker room and the the benches for practice, um, the coaches' boards and water bottles and pucks and anything else that they would need. Um the players come in and kind of get dressed and ready. They go skate for you know the hour, hour and a half or whatever it is in the morning. Um, and then after morning skate, we'll um do all the laundry and flip the locker room, do their mopping and vacuuming and and whatever else we have to do um that day. Um I'm sharpening skates while the guys are on the ice and in between morning skate and the game. Um, and then about three o'clock-ish, we set up the locker room, hang up the jerseys, make everything look nice for the players. Um, I'm changing out blades while my assistants are doing the jerseys and stuff like that. Um, and then comes game time. We are, I would say between like five and game time is kind of our our downtime to where we're kind of waiting for things to happen. Um, everything's all set, ready to go for the game, and we're just waiting for guys to something putting on laces, a lace breaks, or guy's strap comes undone as they're getting ready. We're we're ready to fix anything right before the game. Um, and then the game happens, and obviously we have to be prepared for anything to happen um during the game, whether it be blade changes, a blade pops out, we have to fix that, or stick breaks. Um so being just dialed in for the game, making sure we're ready for that. Um, post-game is again just resetting the locker room, doing our cleaning and getting all the laundry flipped and ready for the next morning. Um, and again, we usually it's about 11:30 midnight before we're able to leave for the game.
SPEAKER_03You turned our lights off when you leave.
SPEAKER_02Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_03During the game, Adam, you're positioned by the sticks, right? Yeah. Um, what do you and you you really can't look away the whole game, right? So what are you scanning? How do you watch the game?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I I would say I watch the game different than probably anyone else. Obviously, the coaches are watching what the players are doing. I'm watching what their gear is doing. Um, if I see guys um blowing an edge, falling down, um, we get their blades ready if they uh come off the bench and ask for a blade change. Um, whoever's taking the face off, I have my hand on their stick. That way, if the the sticks are most likely to break during a face-off. So if I have if I'm ready right there for a stick, I can hand it out to them so they can continue playing.
SPEAKER_03And you're keeping track who's out there on a shift, right? Yeah. In case you need to grab one quick.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. So I know like the center and then who's on his line. Um, so that way I can kind of have an idea of where I would need to go right behind me. Um, all of the sticks I keep in numerical order, just so it's kind of easy for me to keep track of my low numbers are down, you know, farther than my closer numbers. Um, it kind of gives me a good idea of where I need to be there.
SPEAKER_03Take us through the the Conlin Keenan 2023 play.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so the the face-off, I believe, was I have a terrible memory, by the way, but the the face-off was down in the far end, and his stick breaks, I believe, off a face-off. And then he comes down and skates. I was able to hand out a stick in time. He goes down and scores. Um, so that was that was awesome. All the guys are going crazy for me. It was it was a really cool experience.
SPEAKER_01Clear it out, it's blocked the micrags.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, it was awesome.
SPEAKER_03All right, so there is some danger being on the bench. You've been injured.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so it was uh first year Bloomingston was in the league. Um, it was my I don't know, first couple times being there. Their bench is very long. It's a good for spacing and the players to have their own, you know, room and and whatnot, but uh it's hard to see things. So the puck was coming down from the far end of the ice, comes behind and hits the glass behind the coaches and comes and smokes me right in the head. Uh ended up getting four stitches, uh, missed the last half of that period, and then was was back out on the bench for the second and third period without without missing a beat. So uh that was uh forever uh Bloomington is my least favorite spot just because of that. Always have that memory.
SPEAKER_03You bring up away games. Uh, what do you and your team, what are your duties when you get ready and pack up and go on a road trip?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we have uh we have a laundry list of things to bring again, going back to um just all the extra stuff that I have to bring in case we bring a guy in while we're on the road. Depending on how long the road trip is, we have to bring extra sticks for all the guys. Um, usually pack a a stick per game if we have three games on the road, three sticks. Um And then all pack, make sure all the jerseys are packed, practice jerseys. Um, have a tape trunk full of tape and laces and anything else that the players might need. Um, gum, uh mints, uh, anything, anything that they could need.
SPEAKER_03We we could only equipment, it's like accessories for every player, too.
SPEAKER_02Definitely. Um, even just like Sharpies and Expo markets for the coaches, um anything that almost anything you can think of that they would need, we we have.
SPEAKER_03You do personalized concierge service, I'm sensing.
SPEAKER_02Occasionally, yeah, definitely, definitely. Um, some guys like to have, you know, whatever supplements that they may need. We make sure those are on the road with us. Um, any extra little trinkets like massage guns or the vibrating back wraps that we have, we make sure everything everything comes with us.
SPEAKER_03Uh, this at the end of this uh past season, you got a really nice uh honor. You were voted uh the top uh uh equipment manager in the ECHL, and that's voted on by your peers. And anything, any award that's voted on by your peers, it's kind of goes up a notch as far as um just the quality of that award. Um, I also found it was very first of all, congratulations.
SPEAKER_02Thank you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, um, I also found it very interesting uh how you found out that you got the uh that award.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So it was it was awesome. Even right after I I thanked Pat for how he did it, it was it was really cool. So it was a practice day. I had no idea. Um, and none of the other players did too. This was really cool, but uh after practice he pulls me out on the ice, and I'm thinking, oh no, what did what did I do? What's wrong? Uh so he pulls me on the ice at centered ice, everyone circled around and he announces that I got the award, and all the guys just went crazy, giving me hugs and and everything like that. It was a really cool experience, and I'll never forget.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the the the walleye uh marketing team, um, social media team put that clip out, and the reaction for the players and coaches and the support staff who were there really showed the level of respect that they have for you and appreciation for you. That was really a great moment.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it was it was it was awesome. I think that the original idea was to announce at our team dinner that we were gonna have that night, but then he noticed the cameras were there and and everything like that. So we wanted to do it on the ice, and it was it was really awesome.
SPEAKER_03Great. Good congratulations, what a great memory, too. Yeah. Last one here, Adam. It's it's real obvious that you love your job and you love working for the walleye. What is it about your position that you gives you a sense of purpose? That's that's Coach Mickish calling in a question.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, for sure. Um the the purpose, yeah. So I would say just again, just taking care of the guys and and knowing that we're doing a good job at the end of the day, me and me and my my staff is is what gives us that purpose. Um, doing everything that we can to make sure that they can perform the best on the ice is kind of what we strive for. And the walleye do a great job at giving me all the tools that I need to make sure that we're able to do so.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03Well, Adam, it's really obvious the role that you play is very important to the overall success of the the walleye players in your organization. And I can see just based on this conversation, uh how likable you are. And I can it's understandable um that the players mobbed you after uh Coach Mickish announced that award. So congratulations again. Thank you for being all in for the walleye. And uh thanks for giving us a nice glimpse of what it's like from your perspective.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, thank you very much for having me.