When Kyle Walker’s university hockey career ended at the U Sports National Championship, he didn’t put his gear away for the year. He signed a contract with the Reading Royals of the East Coach Hockey League and figured he’d be there for the rest of the season. But Walker says all of that changed with one phone call. “I spent the week with the team, and then on Thursday my agent called me and said, ‘Do you want to be an American Hockey League player?’ I was like, ‘Uh, yeah, everybody would love to, right?’” Long Journey Walker was signed to a professional contract by the Wranglers. That proved to be the easy part. Getting from Pennsylvania to Laval, Que., where the Wranglers were playing, proved to be harder. It was almost like Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Walker says it was quite the adventure. “I didn’t have my passport, which is the number one rule in pro hockey; You carry your passport everywhere, which, obviously, I didn’t know” he said with a chuckle. Walker had to go back to Reading to get his passport. “I grabbed a rental car from Boston to Reading, which is five and a half hours, packed all of my stuff, and then one of the Booster Club guys, he drove me to the Philadelphia airport – which was like two hours. “We were like two hours away from the Philadelphia airport and it took us like an hour and a half to get there just because of how busy the traffic was. “Then I flew out from Philadelphia to Montreal, and then got an Uber ride into Laval and into the fire, basically.” “It’s a great story, a long travel day; about 15 hours. But, honestly, I would travel twice as long to be able to be here. I’m just grateful to be here.” Made his debut Saturday night Walker made his pro debut on Saturday night as the Wranglers squared off against the Laval Rockets. He ended up with a -1 on the night, and says it was much different than playing University Hockey. He says the AHL is a pro-league, and the players are all stronger and faster. “I felt like I fit in pretty well, to be honest, in terms of pace and things like that,” he said. “I just need to get used to the timing behind everything and gapping and stuff like that; I thought I held my own for the most part.” Wranglers head coach Brett Sutter says the 25-year-old defenceman got better as the game went on. He says Walker is a fast learner. “He’s got size, he’s rangy and he’s asking all of the right questions right now,” Sutter said. “I think he sees some of those areas we’d like him to take a step in heading into this weekend. He’s had a great attitude around the rink and he’s had really good energy and is an outgoing kid, which is awesome.” Would love to be back next year Walker is doing all he can to impress the Wranglers. He knows this is an audition and says he’s hoping he does enough to get a contract from the team for next season. “They picked you up for a reason, so I just go out there and play steady,” he said. “Play defence and move pucks quick and easy, and play hard in front of the net, and the rest hopefully will land on my lap.” The Wranglers are at home for a pair of games this weekend against the Abbotsford Canucks.
