| Bob Nardella | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Nardella with theChicago Wolves in 2006 | |||
| Born | (1968-02-02)February 2, 1968 (age 57) Melrose Park, Illinois,U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | ||
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb) | ||
| Position | Defense | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | Alleghe Hockey Chicago Wolves Adler Mannheim Quad City Mallards Milano Vipers Rockford IceHogs | ||
| National team |  Italy | ||
| Playing career | 1991–2006 | ||
| Coaching career | 2012–present | ||
Robert Nardella, Jr (born February 2, 1968) is anItalian-American former professionalice hockeydefenseman who is the former head coach of theChicago Wolves of theAmerican Hockey League (AHL).
Following hisNCAA career withFerris State University, Nardella competed in theItalian Hockey League,Deutsche Eishockey Liga,International Hockey League, andAmerican Hockey League. During his career, he played for theAlleghe Hockey,Chicago Wolves,Adler Mannheim,Quad City Mallards,Milano Vipers, andRockford IceHogs. Nardella spent the majority of his professional career playing with the Chicago Wolves, where he set a franchise record for most points by a defenseman with 298. He also helped them win the International Hockey League’sTurner Cup in 1998 and 2000 and the American Hockey League’sCalder Cup in 2002.
Nardella has representedItaly internationally at the1998 Winter Olympics and2006 Winter Olympics, as well as at the1995,1996, and1997 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.
As a youth, Nardella playedMinor ice hockey for the Chicago Jesters.[1] Nardella later attendedHoly Cross High School for two years before completing his junior and senior high school years in Iowa while playing with theDes Moines Buccaneers in theUnited States Hockey League.[2] While with the Buccaneers, Nardella set a franchise record for most points scored in a season with 111 points during the 1987–88 season.[3]
As a college walk-on forFerris State University, Nardella played three seasons with the Bulldogs putting up 74 points in 108 games. In his last season with the team, Nardella transitioned into a defensive position, on the encouragement of coach Bob Mancini,[4] and had a breakout year, putting up 40 points in 42 games. While this was not enough to attract attention from National Hockey League scouts, he was recruited by Italian third division teams. Due to his grandfather's Italian nationality, Nardella qualified for those teams as a national member.[5] Nardella joined theHC Alta Badia for the 1991-92 season. He was then moved to the top tierItalian Hockey League team,Alleghe Hockey, for the next two seasons.[5]
Nardella then joined theChicago Wolves for their inaugural season in theInternational Hockey League.[5] During this time, Nardella competed in the1995 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. He was also later named to Italy's1996, and1997 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships roster.[6][7] In 1998, Nardella was selected by the Team Italy for the1998 Winter Olympics before returning to the Wolves.[5]
Nardella won the 2000Turner Cup Championship with the Wolves, while leading all defensemen with 13 points. As a result of his play, Nardella was named to the IHL Second All-Star Team.[8] He re-signed with the Wolves after that season.[9] Following the 2001 Turner Cup, the Chicago Wolves and five other IHL teams were absorbed into theAmerican Hockey League.[10] That season the Wolves won the 2002Calder Cup, with Nardella accumulating 14 points. After six consecutive seasons with the Wolves spanning from 1997 until 2003, Nardella was released by the team on January 28, 2003, and he subsequently joined theMilano Vipers in Italy and played two games for theQuad City Mallards in the UHL. While with the Vipers, Nardella helped them win theItalian Elite League Championship by scoring nine points in 11 games. He re-joined the Wolves on March 17, 2004.[8] Nardella ended his career with the Wolves as the franchise record holder for most points by a defensemen with 298 points.[11]
While playing with theRockford IceHogs in the 2005–06 season, Nardella was again selected to represent Italy at the2006 Winter Olympics.[12] He retired after that season on April 21, 2006.[13]
In 2012, the Chicago Wolves hired Nardella to be the team's skills development coach. On December 15, 2012, Nardella was inducted into the Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame.[14] In 2014, he became a part time coaching assistant until he was promoted to full time assistant coach in 2017.[11] On June 13, 2023, he was promoted to head coach.[15]
In 2023, Nardella was suspended ten games by theAHL for allegedly using homophobic language against officials.[16]
Although Nardella was born in the United States, due to his grandfather's Italian heritage he was able to represent Italy internationally.[5] Because Nardella played in Italy for a few seasons, he earned Italian citizenship.[17]
While Nardella comes from a hockey involved family, he also encouraged his sons to become hockey players as well. His uncle Mike worked for theChicago Blackhawks organization[18] and his cousin Frank played NCAA hockey forDartmouth College.[19] While living inRosemont with his wife Alicia, Nardella's elder sonBobby played NCAA hockey for theUniversity of Notre Dame[18][20] and his younger son Nicholas played in theNorth American Hockey League.[21]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1986–87 | Des Moines Buccaneers | USHL | ||||||||||||
| 1987–88 | Des Moines Buccaneers | USHL | 44 | 67 | 111 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1988–89 | Ferris State University | CCHA | 28 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Ferris State University | CCHA | 38 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Ferris State University | CCHA | 42 | 12 | 28 | 40 | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | HC Alta Badia | ITA.2 | 45 | 45 | 60 | 105 | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Alleghe Hockey | ITA | 16 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 8 | ||
| 1992–93 | Alleghe Hockey | AL | 32 | 19 | 37 | 56 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Alleghe Hockey | ITA | 23 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Alleghe Hockey | AL | 30 | 13 | 36 | 49 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Chicago Wolves | IHL | 74 | 9 | 40 | 49 | 36 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1995–96 | HC Milano | ITA | 30 | 14 | 31 | 45 | 31 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 60 | ||
| 1995–96 | HC Milano | AL | 8 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Adler Mannheim | DEL | 50 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 59 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 | ||
| 1997–98 | Chicago Wolves | IHL | 65 | 13 | 35 | 48 | 40 | 22 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 24 | ||
| 1998–99 | Chicago Wolves | IHL | 82 | 8 | 45 | 53 | 86 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 1999–2000 | Chicago Wolves | IHL | 77 | 10 | 36 | 46 | 26 | 16 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 10 | ||
| 2000–01 | Chicago Wolves | IHL | 78 | 9 | 40 | 49 | 58 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 34 | ||
| 2001–02 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 52 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 47 | 24 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 12 | ||
| 2002–03 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 15 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Quad City Mallards | UHL | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | HC Milano | ITA | 11 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 19 | ||
| 2003–04 | Rockford IceHogs | UHL | 44 | 7 | 38 | 45 | 82 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 13 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | ||
| 2005–06 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 20 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Rockford IceHogs | UHL | 26 | 3 | 19 | 22 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| ITA totals | 80 | 37 | 69 | 106 | 71 | 31 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 86 | ||||
| IHL totals | 376 | 49 | 196 | 245 | 246 | 67 | 11 | 32 | 43 | 74 | ||||
| AHL totals | 100 | 10 | 43 | 53 | 85 | 34 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Italy | WC | 7th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 1996 | Italy | WC | 7th | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1997 | Italy | WC | 8th | 8 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | |
| 1998 | Italy | OG | 12th | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| 2006 | Italy | OG | 11th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| Senior totals | 26 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 28 | ||||
| Award | Year | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| USHL | ||
| USHL Forward of the Year | 1988 | [22] |
| IHL | ||
| IHL Second All-Star Team | 2000 | [8] |
| Turner Cup | 1998, 2000 | |
| AHL | ||
| Calder Cup Champion | 2002 | [23] |
Chicago: Resign defenceman Chris LiPuma, Bob Nardella and Tom Tilley.
American Hockey League CHICAGO WOLVES -- Announced the retirement of D Bob Nardella.