from Matt Schoch at the Detroit News,

“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....

With the fickle and fleeting nature of sporting success, the Walleye organization keeps their eye on the big picture, said Neil Neukam, the team’s executive vice president and general manager.

“If you put all your eggs in that basket of wins and losses, then you start to condition the market to think it’s all about that,” he said. “But we know we’ve done our job when you can come out and have a great time and not even know who won the game.”

That means all the minor league promotions, from "Harry Potter" and "Game of Thrones" themes to a zombie night centered around aptly named player Dominic Zombo, who gamely played the starring role of an undead player leading up to the 2016 promotion.

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