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Walz gets his day |
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Written by editor
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Saturday, February 20 2010, 11:49 PM |
It had been 20 years since Wes Walz had suited up with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, and 15 years since he set foot in the city.
So when Walz walked through the Enmax Centre Saturday afternoon he did so not only as a former Hurricane, but also a tour guide. “I brought my 16-year-old son down and we walked around the rink and talked about some of the things that happened in the rink,” said Walz. “There were great experiences and a lot of life lessons that I took down the road.”
On Saturday night prior to the Hurricanes hosting the Kootenay Ice in Western Hockey League action, those life lessons were celebrated as Walz, along with former Lethbridge Bronco Bryan Trottier and the Lethbridge Hockey Hounds, were honoured in a banner-raising ceremony, commemorating their years with the franchise.
“It’s an exciting time, obviously,” said Walz, who played with the ’Canes from 1988 to 1990, scoring 83 goals in 119 games, twice advancing to the WHL final.
“It’s been 20 years since I played here, but it’s probably been about 15 years since I’ve been back in Lethbridge. Just flying in and seeing all the development that’s gone on here and seeing old faces I haven’t seen in a long time (is great).”
After winning the WHL Rookie of the Year award in 1988-1989, Walz was one of five Hurricanes who topped the 50-goal mark in 1989-1990 as Corey Lyons (63), Mark Greig (55), Kelly Ens (58) and Jason Ruff (55) hit the 50-plus goal mark.
But Walz credited then-coach Bob Loucks for keeping all his big guns in check.
“We had Bob, who was very strict and a disciplinarian.”
“He was the type of coach we needed because we had a lot of skill set with guys like Mark, Corey, Jason and Bryan Bosch. So he kept us on the straight and narrow. We scored a lot of goals, but we never really played outside the structure of the team. I have to tell you, it was a really exciting time playing with those guys. At the time you didn’t think too much of it because you’re having so much fun. But looking back now, I wish we would have enjoyed it a little bit more than we did. But it was nice being down a goal or two in the third period and knowing that we could just flip the switch and get three in the third.”
After a video presentation of Walz and Trottier’s exploits in Lethbridge and beyond, it was Loucks who presented Walz with the Hall of Fame gift. The evening included a speech from WHL commissioner Ron Robison, who praised the efforts of groups like the Lethbridge Hockey Hounds for their contributions, highlighting the Hounds’ work with the ’Canes education fund.
Walz’s numbers in his rookie year with the were enough to get him drafted in the third round, 57th overall, by the Boston Bruins in the 1989 NHL entry draft.
While Walz would go on to play 607 career games and become known as one of the league’s top defensive forwards - including being selected as a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy for best defensive forward in 2003 — his career didn’t start that way.
“It wasn’t a natural (progression),” said Walz. “I was a highly-touted player coming out of junior and to be fair, getting drafted by the Boston Bruins was probably not the best thing in my career. Playing in a small rink I was a skilled guy that was very fast and playing in a small rink wasn’t really conducive to my type of game. It was a tough fit right from the very start.
“Could I have handled the situation better? Yes, at the very beginning. But then all of a sudden your confidence leaves you and it left me for a few years, I really struggled for a few years.”
Walz took his game overseas, playing three years for Zug of the Swiss League.
But NHL expansion and one head coach who believed in him brought Walz back to the NHL, suiting up with Jacques Lemaire and the Minnesota Wild in 2000-2001.
Walz never played for another team until retiring in 2007-08.
“Jacques Lemaire took me under his wing,” said Walz. “I always felt I could be a good defensive player if I wanted to be. I don’t think too many other people really thought that, but Jacques saw me skate and he knew I was a pretty heady player. He meshed the two and the rest is history. I knew trying to make a career as a scorer at the beginning really didn’t work. Jacques told me this is what his mindset was and I really embraced it and I knew it was something that was going to allow me to play in the league for many years. But I never took that for granted, I always played from game-to-game. But obviously having a coach believe in me kind of paved the way for me.”
On Saturday night Walz returned to where it began and a few of those teammates who were lighting the lamp alongside him for those two years were there to witness it as Lyons and Ruff watched their former teammate’s name rise to the rafters.
“It’s great to see him up there,” said Lyons. “He was such a great hockey player. I grew up with Wes in Calgary and played with him in minor hockey. We played our midget together in Calgary and when we were 12 we went to Ottawa together for a summer team. I’ve played with him for a long time and to see him go up there is huge.”
At the time, the Hurricanes lineup was a game of musical snipers.
“I played on a line with him in midget and the first year (in Lethbridge) I played with Wes and Mark,” said Lyons. “In the second year I played with Bosch and Enns and Ruff played with Mark and Wes. So we switched it up. We had six guys with 100 points. So it was pretty special.”
And going great guns was fun, said Ruff.
“You watch the videos and it brings back a lot of memories and you kind of wish the game was still played like that sometime,” he said. “But as we know it’s changed. You can only wish you had that many scorers, but with expansion it’s gets watered down.
“Everybody scored goals back then, it was a good time.”
Now, Walz has taken his game behind the bench as an associate coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I’m enjoying it a lot, coaching with Rich Tocchet, Adam Oates and Rick Wilson. They’re a great group of coaches and it’s been a great learning experience for me,” said Walz. “I’ve had an opportunity over the years to play for some very good coaches so a lot of the knowledge I’ve been able to pull out of their minds I’m going to carry with me for the rest of my career.”
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