Pro joins Petes coaching staff
The Peterborough Petes announced a 19-year professional player as their newest assistant coach Tuesday.
Derrick Walser, 39, is the Petes’ second assistant coach to join the team this year.
The New Glasgow, Nova Scotia native replaces Jake Grimes, who accepted a position as associate coach with Guelph Storm in July.
He’ll join assistant coach Mike Duco on the bench, after Duco replaced Kurtis Foster, a former Petes defenceman, when he left to become assistant coach for the Kingston Frontenacs in July.
Walser played 19 seasons of professional hockey between the NHL, AHL, ECHL, KHL, Swiss-A, DEL and most recently EIHL (Elite Ice Hockey League).
The father of two comes to the Petes after two seasons as a player and head coach with the Belfast Giants in the EIHL.
In the NHL, Walser played for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He also spent five seasons as a defenceman in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Beauport Harfangs and Rimouski Oceanic, recording 82 goals, 173 assist, 255 points and 293 penalty minutes in 255 games.
He said he knew it was time to retire from playing because he didn’t feel the drive he once felt on the ice. But that didn’t mean he was done with hockey.
“I have passion to come to the rink still and give knowledge and develop kids,” he said.
Walser made the move to Peterborough this week and is awaiting the arrival of his wife Sara and sons Camden, 8, and Hudson, 10.
Petes General Manager Mike Oke said they had a lot of strong candidates apply for the role, but they kept coming back to Walser.
Before the hiring process began, Oke and Head Coach Jody Hull developed a profile of the key skills and attributes they were looking for.
“Every time that we had a chat with Derrick...we were just impressed with the way he answered a particular question or philosophy he had on coaching,” said Oke.
The GM said he’s very comfortable bringing Walser on board because of his experience both as a player and a coach.
“He’ll be a real asset not only to the coaching staff but I think he’ll be a real asset to the players,” said Oke.
During Hull’s first conversation with Walser, the head coach said he could see Walser had passion, energy and excitement when they spoke about what he could bring to the table.
Walser also ticked off all the boxes in the profile Hull and Oke has created, Hull said.
“For me, at the end of the day, the decision was pretty easy,” Hull said.
That profile included experience playing in the junior and pro levels. Plus, the challenges Walser faced during his years on ice showed he had grit.
“He was one of those guys that always had to face a little bit of adversity to get to where he wanted to go and to me, right there, that shows that commitment of hard work,” Hull said.
The Petes have had five assistant coaches in the last four years, some without previous coaching experience.
With Walser and Duco both experienced coaches, Hull said he expects them to ease right into their new roles.
“I think that transition is going to be a lot easier and move along a lot quicker,” Hull said.