"He's a very likable guy. You could tell he was a high character guy from the first day I met him," added Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who was Vitale's teammate for two seasons with the AHL's Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and two more with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Vitale's new role with the Blues won't just start and end in the broadcast booth, though. He'll have a desk in the Blues front office, and he'll have a key role working with the club's video production and digital staff to help produce content - whether that's locker room interviews with the players or gameday shows for the Blues' website and mobile app. Vitale also will play an important role in the community, helping to raise money for the Blues for Kids foundation through events such as casino night, youth hockey initiatives and sponsorship events.
Vitale can't wait to get started. Because of injuries, he never got to wear the Blue Note as a player like many of his St. Louis-born peers - players like Paul Stastny, Cam Janssen, Chris Butler, Ben Bishop and now Pat Maroon. But that's still OK with Vitale. To him, taking a position in the broadcast booth is just as good.
"I remember sitting across the table from my wife when I was playing for the Penguins and I said one thing I would love to do is play for the Blues and hopefully retire a Blue," he said. "That would be a perfect finale to all of this. But I got injured in Arizona so I never had that opportunity. But now being a broadcaster, it doesn't feel any different than if I was a player. I already feel like part of this organization and part of this team.
"It's a nice redemption story where I still get to be a St. Louis Blue. Is that not every kid's dream?"