A former Stanley Cup winning member of the Montreal Canadiens is coming to Osoyoos to speak about his career and life as a professional hockey player.
Ryan Walter, who retired in 1992 after spending two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, will be the special guest of the Osoyoos Coyotes and the local Spirit of the Game organization when he visits Osoyoos to give a motivational speech on Thursday, Oct. 23.
Walter, who was drafted second overall by the Washington Capitals in the 1978 NHL entry draft, has spent the past several years as a motivational speaker, author and hockey coach.
Walter was a member of the 1985-86 Montreal Canadiens team that captured the Stanley Cup after defeating the Calgary Flames in five games in the Stanley Cup final. That was the same season Patrick Roy was a rookie and claimed the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP by leading the Canadiens, who didn’t have a great regular season, to the Stanley Cup.
Randy Bedard, the owner of the Osoyoos Coyotes, said he’s excited to have the Stanley Cup winner coming to Osoyoos.
“He’s a well known motivational speaker and a man who had a very good NHL career, so I’m sure he will have some great stories to tell about his career and what it was like to win the Stanley Cup,” said Bedard.
Walter was selected as the second overall pick in the NHL draft after a tremendous junior hockey career with the Kamloops Chiefs and Seattle Breakers.
During a 15-year career, Walter played in 1003 regular season games. He scored 264 goals and added 382 assists, while accumulating 946 penalty minutes.
He retired after playing only three games for the Canucks early in the 1991-92 season.
After a lengthy coaching career in junior hockey, Walter was the coach of Canada’s national women’s team in 2010 and led them to the Four Nations Cup championship.
He was also a former vice-president of the National Hockey League Players’ Association and was an assistant coach with the Canucks under Alain Vigneault in 2008-09 and 2009-2010.
Bedard said he can take very little credit for arranging Walter’s visit to Osoyoos.
“There is a man, who I shall prefer to remain anonymous, is very good friends with Ryan,” said Bedard. “His son will be playing on our team this year so he’s very pro-Coyotes and thought it would be great for local fans to be able to meet and listen to someone who had a tremendous NHL career like Walter.
“When he suggested we bring Ryan to Osoyoos, I thought it would make for a great fundraising opportunity, so I contacted Spirit of the Game and they were obviously very excited.”
Spirit of the Game is a non-profit organization founded last year in Osoyoos that helps raise funds to allow children who can’t afford it to participate in minor sports.
“All of the credit has to go to the gentleman who is friends with Ryan because he has made all the arrangements,” he said. “I did know Ryan is very well respected as a motivational speaker and, as a hockey fan, I’m really excited to hear what he has to say when he comes to Osoyoos.”
Walter will be speaking in the conference room at the Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort and Spa.
Tickets will be $65 and will include dinner and two tickets to the game between the Coyotes and Kamloops Storm the following evening on Friday, Oct. 24.
All proceeds will go to Spirit of the Game and a new scholarship fund being established by the Coyotes to help graduating players pursue educational opportunities.
If there is good response to this event, Bedard said he will strongly consider using his contacts in the hockey world to try and bring a current or former NHL player to Osoyoos on an annual basis.
“If there’s really good response, I would definitely consider trying to make this an annual event,” he said.
A maximum of 200 tickets will be sold for the event on a first-come, first-serve basis. For tickets, call Bedard at 250-485-2412.
Keith Lacey
Special to the Chronicle
