Here's why Bruins winger Vinni Lettieri calls an emergency stint with his high school football team ‘a great experience'
Nelson coached the Minnetonka High football team, and he needed a kicker.
'Yeah, that was pretty funny,' said Lettieri, whose father, Tino, was a world-class soccer goalkeeper. He encouraged Vinni to give it a try. Well, maybe
encouraged
is not strong enough.
'My dad was like, 'You pick up the phone, you call him back, and you're playing,' ' Lettieri said with a chuckle, following Thursday's morning skate prior to the Bruins' game against the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
He was reluctant at first but now wouldn't trade that season with the Skippers for anything.
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'It's the best thing that I've ever done just from the standpoint that sometimes you don't want to do something, but then when you look back on it, it's just such a great experience,' he said. 'And the Minnetonka football team and the coaching staff were so good to me, and it was just a good little stint to have with them.'
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Minnetonka nearly rode Lettieri's foot to the 2011 states.
In the sectionals, the Skippers led, 3-0, until late in the fourth quarter thanks to Lettieri's 32-yard field goal right before the half.
'It looked like 60 [yards] ... I was so nervous. And I was freezing,' said Lettieri. 'They threw me out there. I actually counted the yards [from center] wrong before I lined up. But I made the kick, and I sprinted off the field like, 'What is going on right now?' I was like, 'If I'm bringing this team to states on that field goal, that would be absolute comedy.' '
Alas, Eden Prairie scored at the buzzer to take a 6-3 win, before moving on to states and then capturing the Class 5A title.
'But it was so fun,' said Lettieri. 'It was such a good experience. The guys on the team were so great. I'm happy I did it.'
With futbol and football in the rearview, Lettieri focused on hockey, a journey that took him from Minnetonka to the USHL, to the University of Minnesota, to the professional ranks. Since 2016, he has split his time between the AHL and NHL.
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All along that journey, Lettieri was guided by Tino — who immigrated from Italy to Montreal and represented Canada in the 1976 and 1984 Olympics, as well as 1986 World Cup — and his grandfather, NHL legend Lou Nanne.
'My grandpa is the backbone of our family and he's been in hockey since Day 1 and he still is in hockey doing the broadcasting for Wild games,' said Lettieri of Nanne, who played both defense and right wing during an 11-year run with the North Stars before moving on a front office career and then broadcasting. 'He's given me so much advice and wisdom along the years. And he doesn't miss one of my games, not one of my shifts. If he has to, he re-watches games that he misses if he's flying during that time. But he's phenomenal.'
Lettieri also credited Tino for his guidance.
'Between those two and the rest of my family, I'm very lucky and I'm very fortunate for what they bring and the support that they have for me,' he said.
In his second stint with the Bruins this season, Lettieri is playing right wing on the second line with fellow Minnesotans Casey Mittlestadt (who, coincidentally, played at Eden Prairie High) in the middle and Cole Koepke (Two Harbors/Hermantown High) on the left side.
Lettieri's energy is unmistakable. He is always a man in motion.
'Vinni's a good player. He's a guy that we can use in different situations. Right now, he's playing on our second power-play unit. He's playing with Mittsi. He can score. He has the ability to put the puck in the back of the net because he's got a really good shot,' said Bruins coach Joe Sacco. 'And then attention to detail away from the puck is just something that we continue to talk about with all our guys and with Vinni, too. When he's dialed in and his details are good away from the puck, he's an effective player for us.'
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Jim McBride can be reached at
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