Ryan Walter

Not to be confused with Ryan Walters.

Ryan Walter
Walter in 2011
Born (1958-04-23) April 23, 1958 (age 66)
New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Washington Capitals
Montreal Canadiens
Vancouver Canucks
National team  Canada
NHL draft 2nd overall, 1978
Washington Capitals
Playing career 1978–1993

Ryan William Walter (born April 23, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League. He won the 1986 Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens.

He was also an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks, head coach of the Canadian National Women's hockey team, a hockey broadcaster and president of the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League.

Early life

Walter was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, but grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia. As a youth, he played in the 1971 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Burnaby.[1]

NHL career

Walter was drafted second overall by the Washington Capitals in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. At the time the Capitals named him as team captain in his second season, he was the youngest player in the history of the NHL to hold that position.

In September 1982, Walter and Rick Green were traded to the Montreal Canadiens as part of a six-player blockbuster deal in exchange for Brian Engblom, Doug Jarvis, Rod Langway and Craig Laughlin.[2] Walter's name is engraved on the Stanley Cup, which the Canadiens won in 1986 though Walter was injured for most of the playoffs. In the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals, he scored in the second overtime period of game three to give the Canadiens a 2–1 series lead. However, the Calgary Flames came back to win the series and the Cup. In 1991, he signed as a free agent with the Vancouver Canucks, where he played the final two seasons of his career and won the Budweiser NHL Man of the Year Award in 1992. He was known as a tough, hard-working player who was excellent in the face-off circle. Walter also served as vice president of the NHLPA.[3]

Broadcasting career

From 1993–94 until 1997–98, he worked for TSN as the network's secondary hockey colour commentator. In this role, he worked on NHL, CHL, and IIHF broadcasts. He worked five Memorial Cups, one World Junior Hockey Championship, and four World Hockey Championships. From 1996–97 until 2001–02, he was the colour commentator on Vancouver Canucks television broadcasts on BCTV, Rogers Sportsnet and VTV. He also occasionally filled in on radio when Tom Larscheid had football duties. In these roles, he was teamed up with, at various times, Jim Robson, Jim Hughson and John Shorthouse.

Coaching career

On June 17, 2008, Walter was named an assistant coach to Alain Vigneault of the Vancouver Canucks. He was relieved of his duties after the 2009–10 season. On September 21, 2010, Walter was named head coach of Canada's women's hockey team which won the gold medal at the 2010 Four Nations Cup.

Front office

Walter served as the president of the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League, which was the minor-league affiliate of the Calgary Flames from 2011 to 2014.[4][5]

Personal life

Walter is a motivational speaker, author and leadership expert, using his experiences in hockey to relate to business and success.

Walter also had a cameo appearance in the movie Miracle, playing the referee in the game between the US and USSR in Lake Placid and was hired by Disney to be a hockey expert for the movie. He was also hired as a hockey expert for both seasons of Making the Cut: Last Man Standing, a Nike hockey commercial, and played himself on an episode of the Canadian animated television series Being Ian.

Walter and his wife, Jennifer have three sons who are also hockey players. His oldest son, Ben, was drafted by the Boston Bruins and played 24 games in the NHL. Joey played with the Langley Chiefs of the BCHL and the Trinity Western University Spartans, and his other son, Ryan Jr., played for the TWU Titans in 2006-07 and 2007–08 as well as the Liberty University club hockey team.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1973–74 Langley Lords BCHL 62 40 62 102 — — — — — —
1973–74 Kamloops Chiefs WCHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1974–75 Langley Lords BCHL 52 32 60 92 111 — — — — —
1974–75 Kamloops Chiefs WCHL 9 8 4 12 2 2 1 1 2 2
1975–76 Kamloops Chiefs WCHL 72 35 49 84 96 12 3 9 12 10
1976–77 Kamloops Chiefs WCHL 71 41 58 99 100 5 1 3 4 11
1977–78 Seattle Breakers WCHL 62 54 71 125 148 — — — — —
1978–79 Calgary Wranglers WHL 2 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
1978–79 Washington Capitals NHL 69 28 27 55 70 — — — — —
1979–80 Washington Capitals NHL 80 24 42 66 106 — — — — —
1980–81 Washington Capitals NHL 80 24 45 69 150 — — — — —
1981–82 Washington Capitals NHL 78 38 49 87 142 — — — — —
1982–83 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 29 46 75 40 3 0 0 0 11
1983–84 Montreal Canadiens NHL 73 20 29 49 83 15 2 1 3 4
1984–85 Montreal Canadiens NHL 72 19 19 38 59 12 2 7 9 13
1985–86 Montreal Canadiens NHL 69 15 34 49 45 5 0 1 1 2
1986–87 Montreal Canadiens NHL 76 23 23 46 34 17 7 12 19 10
1987–88 Montreal Canadiens NHL 61 13 23 36 39 11 2 4 6 6
1988–89 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 14 17 31 48 21 3 5 8 6
1989–90 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 8 16 24 59 11 0 2 2 0
1990–91 Montreal Canadiens NHL 25 0 1 1 12 5 0 0 0 2
1991–92 Vancouver Canucks NHL 67 6 11 17 49 13 0 3 3 8
1992–93 Vancouver Canucks NHL 25 3 0 3 10 — — — — —
NHL totals 1,003 264 382 646 946 113 16 35 51 62

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1978 Canada WJC 6 5 3 8 4
1979 Canada WC 8 4 1 5 4
1981 Canada WC 8 0 1 1 2
1982 Canada WC 4 1 3 4 0
Junior totals 6 5 3 8 4
Senior totals 20 5 5 10 6

Awards

  • WCHL First All-Star Team – 1978

See also

References

  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  2. ^ Fisher, Red (September 11, 1978). "Canadiens make blockbuster trade". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  3. ^ "Ryan Walter". keynotespeakerscanada.ca. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  4. ^ "Heat name Ryan Walter club president". NHL.com. August 2, 2011.
  5. ^ "Abbotsford Heat leave city with $12M in losses". CBC.ca. April 15, 2014.
Preceded by Washington Capitals first round draft pick
1978 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Washington Capitals captain
1979–82 		Succeeded by