Ryan William Walter (born April 23, 1958) is a Canadian former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

who played 15 seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. He was also an

assistant coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hun ...

with the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

, head coach of the Canadian National Women's hockey team, a hockey broadcaster and president of the

Abbotsford Heat The Abbotsford Heat were a professional ice hockey team that played five seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) between 2009 and 2014. The team was based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, and played its home games at the 7,046-seat A ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

Early life

Walter was born in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, but grew up in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

. As a youth, he played in the 1971

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a

minor ice hockey 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 contact, vary from c ...

team from Burnaby.

NHL career

Walter was drafted second overall by the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

in the

1978 NHL Amateur Draft The 1978 NHL Amateur Draft was the 16th NHL Entry Draft. It was hosted at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, on June 15, 1978. It was the last draft to be called the "Amateur Draft" before the process was renamed to the NHL Entry Dr ...

. 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. Walter was traded to the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in a blockbuster trade in 1982. He went to Montreal along with Rick Green in exchange for Doug Jarvis,

Rod Langway Rodney Cory Langway (born May 3, 1957) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played for the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL) and Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Associati ...

, Craig Laughlin and Brian Engblom. Walter's name is engraved on the Stanley Cup, which the Canadiens won in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

though Walter was injured for most of the playoffs. In the

1989 Stanley Cup Finals The 1989 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1988–89 season, and the culmination of the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens, the to ...

, he scored in the second overtime period of game three to give the Canadiens a 2–1 series lead. However, the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

came back to win the series and the Cup. In 1991, he signed as a free agent with the

, 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.

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 The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

broadcasts. He worked five

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

s, 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 Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was r ...

and VTV. He also occasionally filled in on radio when

Tom Larscheid Tom Larscheid (born April 6, 1940) is a former Vancouver-based radio sports broadcaster and football player. After a career playing college and CFL football, he was the colour commentator for the CFL's BC Lions and the NHL's Vancouver Canucks f ...

had football duties. In these roles, he was teamed up with, at various times,

Jim Robson Jim Robson OBC (born January 17, 1935) is a former radio and television broadcaster who was the play-by-play announcer of the Vancouver Canucks' games from 1970 to 1999. Broadcasting career Robson started his career at the age of 17 covering ...

Jim Hughson Jim Hughson (born October 9, 1956) is a retired Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of the National Hockey League. He was the lead play-by-play commentator for the ''NHL on Sportsnet'' from 2014 to 2021 and ''Hockey Night in Ca ...

and

John Shorthouse John Shorthouse (born January 31, 1970) is a Canadian sports broadcaster based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the lead play-by-play commentator for the Vancouver Canucks on Sportsnet Pacific television. He also calls select nationally-tel ...

Coaching career

On June 17, 2008, Walter was named an assistant coach to

Alain Vigneault Alain Vigneault (born May 14, 1961) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach. Vigneault has previously coached the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL, as well as in the Quebec Major Ju ...

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

of the

, which was the minor-league affiliate of the

from 2011 to 2014.

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 A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

'', 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 ''Being Ian'' is a Canadian animated series produced by Studio B Productions and Nelvana Limited for YTV, focusing on 12-year-old Ian Kelley, who aspires to become a filmmaker. It originally aired from April 26, 2005, to October 11, 2008. The ...

''. Walter and his wife, Jennifer have three sons who are also hockey players. His oldest son,

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...

, was drafted by the Boston Bruins and played 24 games in the NHL. Joey played with the

Langley Chiefs The Langley Rivermen are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Mainland Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). History The BCHL franchise was founded as the Richmond Soc ...

of the

BCHL The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league from British Columbia under Hockey Canada and BC Hockey. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCHL now includes 18 teams. From 1993 to 2021, the league was a member of the Ca ...

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 Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia ( Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Lib ...

club hockey team.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

* WCHL First All-Star Team – 1978

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Ryan 1958 births Calgary Wranglers (WHL) players Canadian ice hockey centres Ice hockey people from British Columbia Kamloops Chiefs players Langley Lords players Living people Members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Montreal Canadiens players National Hockey League All-Stars National Hockey League broadcasters National Hockey League first-round draft picks Seattle Breakers players Sportspeople from Burnaby Sportspeople from New Westminster Stanley Cup champions Vancouver Canucks announcers Vancouver Canucks coaches Vancouver Canucks players Washington Capitals captains Washington Capitals draft picks Washington Capitals players Canadian ice hockey coaches Calgary Flames announcers

Early life

NHL career

Broadcasting career

Coaching career

Front office

Personal life

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

See also

References

External links