Wes Walz

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Wes Walz" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject's importance, use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance. (September 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Wes Walz
Born	(1970-05-15) May 15, 1970 (age 54) Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Right
Played for	Boston Bruins Philadelphia Flyers Calgary Flames Detroit Red Wings Minnesota Wild
National team	Canada
NHL draft	57th overall, 1989 Boston Bruins
Playing career	1990–2007

Wesley Walz (born May 15, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Previously, he played centre for the Minnesota Wild and served as team captain. He also played for the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, and Detroit Red Wings. He had 260 points (109 goals, 151 assists) and 343 penalty minutes and earned 40 career multi-point games.

Walz was drafted 57th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. At the time, he was playing for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League (WHL), a team for which he played two seasons, playing 119 games and scoring 83 goals and 161 assists for 244 points. For the next seven seasons, Walz played a good chunk of his time in the secondary American Hockey League (AHL). He averaged better than a point per game in the AHL, and was named MVP of the 1996 AHL All-Star Game, but this didn't earn him a full-time NHL job. Walz scored his first NHL goal on February 20, 1990 in Boston's 5-3 win at Calgary. He did manage to score a career-high 38 points in 53 games for the Calgary Flames in 1993–94, but in 1996, he left North American hockey for the Swiss League.^[1]

After four seasons in Switzerland, Walz returned to North America by signing a contract with the expansion franchise Minnesota Wild. During training camp for the Wild, Walz displayed an extremely high work ethic and seemingly unstoppable amount of energy on the ice. Due to his efforts, Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire almost immediately dubbed Walz as his designated checker, placing him primarily on the checking line. This was a turning point in Walz's career, as he became not only a full-time NHL player with Minnesota, but also one of the league's best defensive forwards and considered by many as one of the league's premier ironmen, comparable to players such as Rod Brind'Amour. In his first season back, Walz played all 82 regular season games, scoring 18 goals, 7 of which were shorthanded. When the Wild made the playoffs in 2003, Walz helped them make it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, scoring 7 goals and 6 assists in 18 games.

On November 1, 2007, Walz left the team for personal reasons. On November 8, 2007, he was granted an indefinite leave of absence by the Wild.^[2] On December 1, 2007, the Wild held a press conference during which Walz announced his retirement.^[3] Walz retired as the franchise's leader in all-time games played, although he is now fourth behind Marián Gáborík, Nick Schultz and Mikko Koivu.

In June 2008, Walz signed a three-year contract to become an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning under head coach Barry Melrose.^[4] Though Melrose was fired only 16 games into his tenure with the Lightning,^[5] Walz was retained as a member of the coaching staff under new head coach Rick Tocchet. During his tenure in Tampa Bay, Tocchet asked Walz to personally tutor former number one draft pick Steven Stamkos.^[6] In an interview, Stamkos told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "It was pretty special that he took the time to work with me and make me a better player, and I'm thankful for it."^[7][8]

In February 2010, Lightning general manager Brian Lawton informed Walz he was being replaced by Jim Johnson, then head coach of the Lightning's AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. In turn, Lawton offered Walz the opportunity to take Johnson's place as head coach of the Admirals. When Walz declined due to family reasons, Lawton dismissed him from the organization.^[9] Later, it was revealed Lawton made the change without consulting Tocchet.^[10]

Since 2023, Walz has worked as a sports analyst on Fox Sports North for the Minnesota Wild. He and his wife Kerry-Anne^[11] have five children: Kelvin,^[12] Jaedyn,^[12] Brehna,^[12] Cheyne,^[13] and Wrexyn.^[13]

Walz volunteered as head coach with the Raptors of East Ridge High School in Woodbury, Minnesota. There he coached his son, Kelvin, on the boys varsity ice hockey team, and a few years later he coached his daughter, Jaedyn, on the girls varsity hockey team.

• WHL East First All-Star Team – 1990

2005 NHL Official Guide & Record Book ISBN 0-920445-91-8 https://www.minnesotanhlalumni.com/a-new-kind-of-game-tape-minnesota-wild-alum-wes-walz-goes-from-interviewee-to-interviewer-with-fox-sports-north/

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database