The Rail Yard Dawgs announced on Tuesday that Billy Vizzo has returned to Roanoke from the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, while Nick Ford has been loaned to the Adirondack Thunder. The Dawgs have also signed defenseman Dillon Hill.
Vizzo enjoyed a strong start to his first season in Roanoke, as the five-foot-eleven winger scored a goal and provided three assists in his first six games with the Dawgs. That performance earned him an opportunity with the Stingrays when he was called up on November 10. Unfortunately, Vizzo was sidelined upon arriving in Charleston due to an illness and did not suit up for the Stingrays in a game, but he is available for selection upon returning to Roanoke.
Ford has also made a great early season impact for the Dawgs, scoring twice and notching three assists in six games for Roanoke. The sharpshooting forward will head to Glen Falls, New York for his second ECHL stint of the season, after starting the season on a tryout contract with the Idaho Steelheads.
Hill joins the Dawgs with three games of FPHL experience from the end of the 2019-2020 season with the Watertown Wolves. The six-foot-three defenseman recorded two assists, six penalty minutes, and a plus-four rating before COVID-19 halted the season. Prior to playing for Watertown, Hill played one season for the Niagara Whalers in the Greater Metro Junior Hockey League (GMHL) and four seasons for the Niagara Falls Canucks in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL). In 260 total games during those five seasons, Hill recorded 50 goals and 187 assists at the junior hockey level.
Roanoke will travel to Fayetteville to take on the Marksmen on Wednesday night, before hosting them at Berglund Center on Friday night. That game on November 26 will be Roanoke Express Tribute Night sponsored by Carilion Clinic with Q99, and Roanoke will wear three different specialty jerseys in the game. Season tickets, Wisler Plumbing and Air Family Four Packs, group tickets, and single game tickets are on sale now for future home games, and you can listen to the game on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network via Mixlr or watch it on HockeyTV.