Former NHL player talks faith and leading
Near death experience changed life
Ryan Walter is one of the most recognized names in hockey.
And why wouldn’t he be? His list of accomplishments is impressive.
One thing was clear about Walter: He was a leader on and off the ice.
The former National Hockey League team captain and Stanley Cup champion is now a public speaker, addressing leadership from a faith perspective.
One of Walter’s presentations is titled What Influences Your Best: Integrating Business, Life and Faith.
“At the end of the day, it’s interesting, when you look at the ways that life tends to crash everything,” says Walter. “You look at hockey, you look at business, you look at family. Faith is such a big part of it. Believing not only in something, but believing that there’s a really solid ending to whatever happens is huge.”
But belief is just part of the equation, Walter says.
“The other piece that’s big is joy, just to have the joy that goes from it. The cool thing about the Christian faith is that it doesn’t stop in church. It builds into your life and helps you be more resilient and gives you faith in a future after the problems we all have in life.
“It’s been an amazing element in my life and my wife’s (Jennifer).”
Walter, who has also written books on leadership, speaks publicly with Jennifer about how their Christian faith enhances their relationship and leadership skills. They recently spoke at two events in Calgary.
Walter, who is based in Langley, B.C., played 15 years in the NHL in more than 1,000 regular-season games. A centre, Walter was drafted second overall by the Washington Capitals in 1978 and played there for four years. In his second season, he was named team captain, the youngest captain in the NHL at the time.
In a blockbuster trade after the 1981-82 season, Walter was sent to the Montreal Canadiens with defenceman Rick Green for blueliners Rod Langway, Brian Engblom and forwards Doug Jarvis and Craig Laughlin. Walter played nine seasons for the Canadiens, winning the Stanley Cup in 1986. He finished his career with two seasons for the Vancouver Canucks, retiring in 1993.
Walter has also been an assistant coach with the Canucks for two seasons and head coach of the Canadian national women’s hockey team. He was most recently the president of the Abbotsford Heat, which were the Calgary Flames’ American Hockey League farm team.
Today, he and his wife give talks on leadership as well as holding retreats, marriage weekends and faith initiatives, all in an effort to improve people’s lives.
“As a young person in the NHL, basically I began the Christian faith on an airplane that almost went down,” he says. “I really had no desire to have religion or faith in my life until then.
“Getting off that plane, obviously surviving it, your perspective changes and I asked different questions and I found a very strong faith in Jesus.”
The incident took place in 1981 on a flight in British Columbia while Walter was playing for the Capitals.