BRIGHTON — Vince Walkup can replay in his mind nearly every detail of the goal he scored last season against Warren De La Salle.
“It was on Senior Night, the game-winner on the power play,” he said. “I walked it down to the dot and shot it top right. I got bumped up to the first power play. I went from not being on the second power play to being on the first power play, so it was a good feeling.”
It wasn’t difficult for Walkup to recall the specifics of that goal, not because he wound up being the game-winner in Brighton’s regular-season finale, but because it was the only goal he scored during his junior season.
With a stat line of one goal and eight assists in 27 games as a sophomore, Walkup was an unlikely candidate to break a barrier that hadn’t been eclipsed by a Brighton defenseman in 28 years.
When Walkup scored his 10th goal of the season during a game against Grandville on Jan. 30 in Trenton, he became the first Bulldog blue-liner to reach double digits since Ron Mexico in 1997-98. Mexico finished with 14 goals that season. Walkup scored his 11th the following day against Capital City.
What makes the achievement even more incredible is the list of Brighton defensemen who never scored 10 goals in a season between Mexico and Walkup. John Kivisto (Michigan Tech), Garrett Kennedy (Miami, Ohio), Jay Keranen (Michigan), Tim Erkkila (Northern Michigan), Sam Brennan (Air Force) and Tyler Hayes (Niagara) all went on to play Division I college hockey.
“You would think one of them put up 10 goals,” Brighton coach Kurt Kivisto said. “It was a little bit surprising to see it goes back that far. I was shocked myself.”
For Walkup, regardless of the numbers, it’s an honor to follow such a rich lineage of defensemen at Brighton.
“Brighton’s a really deep and good historic program,” said Walkup, the Livingston Daily Athlete of the Week. “To do that and make history from whenever we had it is a good feeling. You obviously want to be the best you can be.”
So, from whence came this sudden burst of offense?
Even Walkup isn’t quite sure.
“I might have flipped a switch or something,” he said. “I don’t know. I’ve been very offensive this year. It’s been very rewarding.”
Kivisto attributes Walkup’s offensive surge to getting bigger, developing a better shot and gaining confidence.
He also said the style of play in today’s hockey allows more blue-liners to get involved on the offensive end than in the past.
“The game’s evolved,” Kivisto said. “Twenty years ago, guys probably stayed at the blue line. The modern game encourages players to jump up in the rush, be more creative and move around the offensive zone, not just stay on the blue line. He’s definitely taken advantage of that.”
As with any offensive defenseman, Walkup has to walk a fine line. His primary responsibility, after all, is to keep the opposition from scoring. That becomes much more difficult if a defenseman gets caught deep in the offensive zone when the puck starts heading the other way.
“I make up for that when I’m in the D zone, making sure I’m putting pressure on bodies, making sure I use my body to move other guys around and hit them as much as I can,” he said. “I’d say I’m very strategic in the way I play defense.”
Walkup’s two-way game has helped Brighton turn its season around and have an optimistic outlook heading into the state playoffs. The Bulldogs had one of the worst stretches in program history at midseason, losing six games in a row. They responded by going 8-2 over the next 10 games.
“The guys all have a different mindset from the beginning of the season,” Walkup said. “We just got tired of losing so many. We just had to figure something out. We ended up playing more connected in games than we’d been playing.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Vince Walkup is Brighton hockey’s first 10-goal defenseman in 28 years
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
