Robert Nardella, Jr (born February 2, 1968) is an

Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who is the former head coach of the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL). Following his

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

career with

Ferris State University Ferris State University (FSU or Ferris) is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1884 as Big Rapids Industrial School by Woodbridge N. Ferris and became a public institution in 1950. ...

, Nardella competed in the Italian Hockey League,

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

, International Hockey League, and

. During his career, he played for the

Alleghe Hockey HC Alleghe is a professional ice hockey team in Alleghe, Italy. The team plays in the country's second-tier Italian Hockey League and plays at Stadio Alvise De Toni in Alleghe. The team was the surprise winner of the 1992-93 Alpenliga. Curr ...

Adler Mannheim The Adler Mannheim (English: ''Mannheim Eagles'', formerly Mannheimer ERC) is a professional ice hockey team of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest-level ice hockey league in Germany. The team is based in Mannheim, a city in the northern par ...

Quad City Mallards The Quad City Mallards were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa that competed in the United Hockey League, International Hockey League, Central Hockey League and ECHL. They were named aft ...

Milano Vipers Hockey Club Junior Milano Vipers was an Italian professional ice hockey team from Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, sec ...

, and

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

. 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’s

Turner Cup The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League from 1945 to 2001 and the renamed United Hockey League from 2007 to 2010. The Cup was named for Joe Turner, a goaltender from Windsor, Ontario. Turner became professi ...

in 1998 and 2000 and the American Hockey League’s

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In it ...

in 2002. Nardella has represented

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

internationally at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

and

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

, as well as at the

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, and 1997 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.

Playing career

As a youth, Nardella played

Minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

for the Chicago Jesters. Nardella later attended Holy Cross High School for two years before completing his junior and senior high school years in Iowa while playing with the

Des Moines Buccaneers The Des Moines Buccaneers are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team has played in the Western Conference since the 2009–10 season. History The Buccaneers began USHL play during the 1980–81 sea ...

in the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

. While with the Buccaneers, Nardella set a franchise record for most points scored in a season with 111 points during the 1987–88 season. As a college walk-on for

, 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, 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. Nardella joined the HC Alta Badia for the 1991-92 season. He was then moved to the top tier Italian Hockey League team,

, for the next two seasons. Nardella then joined the

for their inaugural season in the International Hockey League. During this time, Nardella competed in the 1995 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. He was also later named to Italy's

, and 1997 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships roster. In 1998, Nardella was selected by the Team Italy for the

before returning to the Wolves. Nardella won the 2000

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. He re-signed with the Wolves after that season. Following the 2001 Turner Cup, the Chicago Wolves and five other IHL teams were absorbed into the

. That season the Wolves won the 2002

, 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 the

in Italy and played two games for the

in the UHL. While with the Vipers, Nardella helped them win the Italian Elite League Championship by scoring nine points in 11 games. He re-joined the Wolves on March 17, 2004. Nardella ended his career with the Wolves as the franchise record holder for most points by a defensemen with 298 points. While playing with the

in the 2005–06 season, Nardella was again selected to represent Italy at the

. He retired after that season on April 21, 2006.

Coaching career

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. In 2014, he became a part time coaching assistant until he was promoted to full time assistant coach in 2017. On June 13, 2023, he was promoted to head coach. In 2023, Nardella was suspended ten games by the AHL for allegedly using homophobic language against officials.

Personal life

Although Nardella was born in the United States, due to his grandfather's Italian heritage he was able to represent Italy internationally. Because Nardella played in Italy for a few seasons, he earned Italian citizenship. While Nardella comes from a hockey involved family, he also encouraged his sons to become hockey players as well. His uncle Mike worked for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

organization and his cousin Frank played NCAA hockey for

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

. While living in Rosemont with his wife Alicia, Nardella's elder son Bobby played NCAA hockey for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

and his younger son Nicholas played in the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nardella, Bob 1968 births Living people Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players from Illinois Sportspeople from Melrose Park, Illinois Ice hockey people from Cook County, Illinois Des Moines Buccaneers players Chicago Wolves players Rockford IceHogs (UHL) players Ferris State Bulldogs men's ice hockey players Olympic ice hockey players for Italy Quad City Mallards (UHL) players American people of Italian descent Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics American men's ice hockey defensemen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen