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Hooked: Toledo Walleye lure in fans, find winning minor league formula

(Photo: Robin Buckson, The Detroit News)

Toledo — John Denver once sang: “Saturday night in Toledo, Ohio, is like being nowhere at all.”

Denver was probably right in the early 1970s, and he’s obviously never been to a Toledo Walleye hockey game.

“There were tumbleweeds blowing through this downtown area,” said Walleye usher Gary Simons of Toledo, in between postgame sips of beer last Sunday at nearby Jed’s Downtown bar. “Now, people love coming downtown. It’s been a resurgence.”

Now, the minor league ECHL franchise has sold out all 25 home Saturday night games over two seasons, plus most others, becoming a formidable winter partner to Toledo’s historic baseball team.