SPITFIRE SPOTLIGHT – Interview with Greg Walters, New Head Coach of the Spitfires, Part 2 of 2

Before turning to coaching, current Windsor Spitfires bench boss Greg Walters played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Ottawa 67s from 1987-88 to 1989-90. Drafted in the fourth round of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Walters ever played a game with the Leafs but did enjoy a minor pro hockey career that spanned 17 seasons. In the second installment of a two-part feature, Walters spoke with In Play! Magazine about his colourful memories from both playing and coaching against the Spitfires in Windsor. Part 1 of 2 of this interview can be found HERE.

Interview

In Play! Magazine – Do you have any memories as a player of playing against the Spitfires in the Windsor Arena?

Greg Walters – (laughs) Anyone who played against the Spits at the barn will have memories from those days! (laughs) It certainly wasn’t the friendliest place to play as an opposing player, but I think the reception I had while playing with the 67s back then wasn’t as intense as it would have been for players who played on teams like London or Kitchener who were big rivals of the Spitfires back then.

Still, it was an intimidating rink to come into, even though we played only once in Windsor during the regular season (The Spitfires played in the OHL’s Emms Division while the 67s played in the Leyden Division and as such, the teams played just twice during the regular season. Both teams hosted one game) The fans were literally right on top of you and I remember stuff being thrown at us both on the ice and on the bench.

The Spitfires won the OHL championship during my first season (1987-88) in the league and that made the old barn an even tougher place to play back then. That Spitfires team had guys like Adam Graves, Paul Maurice, Glen Featherstone and Pete Deboer on it. They could play any style of game that you wanted to and the games were never easy.

In Play! Magazine – You had the legendary Brian Kilrea (the Hockey Hall of Famer who is the OHL’s all-time wins leader) as your coach during your days with the 67s, did Killer help prepare you for playing at the old barn in Windsor?

Greg Walters – He would let us know that it was going to be a tough place to play in not only because of what what on on the ice, but what went on in the stands (laughs).

But as a member of the 67s, we also played in smaller rinks like Kingston and Peterborough (capacity-wise) against teams who were big rivals for us, so we knew that the fans were going to be loud and it wasn’t going to be a fun place to play in. But again, I don’t think we got the full brunt of the Spits fans with the 67s as teams like London did. While they could be tough on you, Spitfires fans were passionate and knowledgeable and you had to respect that. They are still that way too.

In Play! Magazine – Talk about having Brian Kilea as your junior hockey coach.

Greg Walters – He was so much more than just a coach. He helped us develop not only as hockey players, but as young men too. Killer taught us about the value of working hard in anything you do in life. He was and is a person that I look up to very much.

Killer could be tough on you at times but he was also very funny at other times. I really enjoyed my time playing for him and we still keep in touch as often as possible.

In Play! Magazine – Was it any different for you going into the Windsor Arena in as an assistant coach with a visiting team like the Sarnia Sting than it was a player?

Greg Walters – Not really, because we still had stuff thrown at us behind the bench during the games. (laughs) The biggest difference working as a coach at the barn as opposed to going in as a player was that the team that I coached with in Sarnia (Sting) was a rival and the atmosphere both in the rink showed that. Those games both in Windsor and Sarnia were always competiive.

We played the Spits in the play-offs in one season that I worked as an assistant coach and we were lucky enough to have Steve Stamkos playing with us in Sarnia and he was the difference-maker in the series. That was a young Windsor team that had (Taylor) Hall, (Adam) Henrique and (Ryan) Ellis and more and you could tell that team was on the verge of being special. Look at what they did – Windsor went on to win back-to-back Memorial Cups (2009 and 2010)

In Play! Magazine – Compare coaching at the Windsor Arena as a visting assistant coach to working as a visiting assistant coach at the WFCU Centre

Greg Walters – The fans are not right on top of you at the WFCU Centre as they were at the old barn, they are still loud and energetic and they are into the games. While the atmosphere might not be as intimidating at the new rink as it was at the old rink, the Spitfires have had some very good teams since moving into the WFCU Centre and that is very intimating too. When you came in here to play against those back-to-back Memorial Cup teams and the 2017 Cup winner too, you never that you were in for a battle. Even when the team might have taken a step backward last season, I don’t think there has ever been a time when I came into a game in Windsor thinking that it was going to be an easy game.

The best way to making the WFCU Centre a tough place for opposition teams is to have a hard-working, skilled hockey team for them to play against. I think we are heading in the right direction not only this season, but for seasons to come.