SMCC's Jake Willets signs professional hockey deal with Toledo Walleye
One year ago, Jake Willets and a buddy bought tickets to watch the Toledo Walleye during their ECHL playoff run that saw the team reach the Kelly Cup Finals.
Willets no longer will have to pay to get in. He signed a contract Tuesday with the Walleye, the hottest team in professional hockey with a current 18-game winning streak.
The 23-year-old Monroe man is a 6-1, 190-pound defenseman who began playing at age 3 and starred at St. Mary Catholic Central. He was named Monroe County Region Player of the Year for 2015-2016 after scoring a school-record 61 goals his junior season for the Falcons.
He graduated from Erie Mason in 2017, played junior hockey with Belle Tire, then played two seasons in the North American Hockey League – one year each in Alaska and Texas. He played four seasons of college hockey, two with Ferris State University in Big Rapids and the last two at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie.
Then the Walleye contacted Lake Superior State head coach Damon Whitten last week to say they were interested in signing Willets, who talked to Walleye head coach Dan Watson the next day.
“Because of the COVID year, the NCAA gave us a fifth year of eligibility,” said Willets who planned to play one more season at Lake Superior State. “Out of the blue, Toledo called. I’ll be (playing) close to home for the first time in some time.”
He drove home to Monroe Monday night, leaving Sault Ste. Marie at 8 p.m. and getting home at 2 a.m. Nine hours later he was practicing with the Walleye at 11 a.m. Tuesday. By 5 p.m., he was officially activated.
“They wanted to bring me in and see what I could do,” Willets said. “It was awesome being at the Huntington Center. All of the guys on the team have been very welcoming. This is the first step of everything. I’m kind of getting the feel of the professional level. I’ll be walking into a winning team. ”
He is expected to make his professional debut when the Walleye host Reading at 7:15 p.m. tonight at the Huntington Center.
The son of Jason Willets and Jodie Bowman began playing hockey soon after he learned how to walk. He played roller hockey at the old Monroe Skateway and ice hockey at the Monroe Multi-Sports Complex with the Monroe Ice Hawks.
“My dad played hockey when he was in the Marines,” Willets explained. “We used to go to the Detroit (Red Wing) games all the time. Pavel Datsyuk was my favorite player growing up.”
But baseball was his first love. Willets played the sport growing up and for all four years of high school.
“Even my freshman year, I wasn’t really focused No. 1 on hockey,” he said. “I started finally maybe emerging. Coach Brian Hughes kind of got out of me what I could be.”
Willets scored 61 goals and added 26 assists in only 26 games his final season at SMCC, leading the Falcons to the Huron League championship. His eight goals in one game tied the Monroe County Region record. He also had 28 goals as an SMCC sophomore.
Willets had 17 goals and 24 assists with 133 penalty minutes for the NAHL’s Amarillo Bulls in 2018-2019. A combination forward-defenseman in high school, he became strictly a defenseman in college, finishing his collegiate career with 15 goals and 39 assists. He also became the only defenseman in Lake Superior State history to score a hat trick, accomplishing the feat against his old team (Ferris State).
Willets will graduate with honors from Lake Superior State this spring with a business administration major and a concentration in finance. “Most of my classes this semester were online except for one,” he said.
He loved playing college hockey at a hockey school, noting that Lakers assistant coach Mike York played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League.
Now Willets himself is thinking about an NHL career.
“At the end of the day, you just take it one step at a time,” he said. “Until last week I hadn’t thought much about playing professional hockey. Now I’m going to try to ride out this hockey thing as long as I can.”
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: SMCC's Jake Willets signs professional hockey deal with Toledo Walleye
