Borrowing a line from the Joni
Mitchell song, Ryan Walter has looked at hockey from both sides now.
After a 15-year career on the ice, Walter is now making a name for himself
in the broadcast booth.
Ryan enjoyed a sterling junior career with the B.C. Junior Hockey Leagues'
Langley Lords and the Western Hockey League's Kamloops Chiefs and Seattle
Breakers.
His play as a junior caught the eye of many NHL scouts and it was the
Washington Capitals who won the prize, drafting Ryan second overall in the
1978 draft.
He made an immediate impact in the NHL, scoring 28 goals and adding 28
assists in his rookie year to finish as runner up to Minnesota's Bobby
Smith in the Calder Trophy Rookie of the Year balloting. Ironically, Smith
was also the only player drafted ahead of Ryan in the 1978 entry draft.
Ryan Walter went on to play four seasons with the Capitals.
In 1982 Ryan was a key figure in a block-buster trade between the Capitals
and the Montreal Canadiens, when he and teammate Rick Green were shipped
to Montreal in exchange for four players: defencemen Rod Langway and Brian
Engblom, along with forwards Craig Laughlin and Doug Jarvis.
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Ryan would spend the next nine
season with the Habs, helping Montreal rekindle some of their past glory
by helping the team to the Stanley Cup championship in 1986.
Ryan returned to the West Coast for the final two years of his playing
career, signing a free agent contract with the Vancouver Canucks in the
summer of 1991. He retired from playing in 1993, 15 years and over 1,000
games after his professional career began.
Other highlights along the way included an appearance at the World Junior
Hockey Championships, where he captained the Canadian entry; a berth in
the NHL all star game in 1983; and being named to Canada's entry at the
World Hockey Championships four times.
Ryan was also named the Bud Light NHL Man of the Year in 1992, for his
contributions on and off the ice.
Hanging up the blades didn't mean Ryan Walter was leaving the game.
Instead he traded his stick for a microphone and embarked on a career as a
radio and television colour commentator, which he continues to this day. |
