Former Owen Sound Plater Scott Walker is the coach of the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League, taking over for Jason Brooks earlier this year.
Walker played 2 years in Owen Sound and then took his over-achieving act to the big time where he scored 151 NHL goals over 800 + games.
He only scored once in an NHL Playoff game, but it was a Game 7 series winner for Carolina, in overtime no less, in 2009 when the Hurricanes upset Boston.
Walker was that kind of player; a man of the moment, who seldom failed in the crunch, and played every shift at top speed, far faster than most.
My favorite Scott Walker moment came at Sault Ste Marie in 1991.
The Greyhounds were a tough, aggressive, experienced team and while the Platers were emerging as a rugged club, they were no match for the Soo on this night.
With the game comfortably in hand, like 6-1 or 7-2, the Greyhounds flexed their muscles in front of their adoring crowd, and one by one, Chris Simon, Tony Iob and Brian Goudie all hammered the youthful Platers.
Not wanting to see a good time evaporate, veteran winger Jason Denomme elected to please the crowd some more & called on Plater rookie Scott Walker.
Walker launched into Denomme with a vengeance, pummelling Denomme in decisive fashion, and suddenly the crowd was totally silent, such was the beating their hero received from Walker, and the only noise you could hear in the rink was from the overjoyed Owen Sound broadcasters
That was one of the earliest surprises from Scott Walker, and who knows what surprises he has for us now behind the Storm bench.
I’m Fred Wallace