Ben Walter

Ben James Walter (born May 11, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He most recently played with EC VSV in the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL). He has previously played in the National Hockey League and is the son of former NHL player Ryan Walter. Playing career Walter first played junior hockey with the Langley Hornets in the British Columbia Hockey League for two seasons before he committed to play collegiate hockey with the University of Massachusetts Lowell in the NCAA Hockey East. An offensively-minded center, he finished second on the River Hawks in scoring as a sophomore in 2003–04 and was consequently drafted 160th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins. The ensuing season, Walter then co-led the River Hawks with 39 points in 34 games as a junior. Posting 3 hat-tricks throughout the season, Walter also led the Hockey East with 26 goals to be selected to the Hockey East Second All-Star team and earning a nomination as a Hobey Baker Award finalist. Walter did not return for his senior year when he signed a three-year entry level contract with the Bruins on August 31, 2005. He was among the final cuts of the Boston Bruins training camp for opening night roster for 2005–06 and started his first professional season with American Hockey League affiliate, the Providence Bruins. On the turn of the year Walter was recalled from Providence and made his NHL debut with the Bruins against the Los Angeles Kings on January 12, 2006. He went scoreless in 6 games with Boston before finishing his first season by scoring 40 points in 62 games with Providence. In the following 2006–07 season, Walter failed to find a role within Boston's line-up and appeared in only 4 games with the Bruins for the year. He spent the majority of the season with Providence and posted 67 points in 73 games to place second on the team in scoring and was named Providence Most Valuable Player to end the season. On September 11, 2007, Walter was traded by the Bruins, along with a conditional second-round pick to the New York Islanders for Petteri Nokelainen. For the 2007–08 season, Ben was initially assigned to the Islanders AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers before he played his first game for New York against the Pittsburgh Penguins in coach Al Arbour's 1,500th honorary NHL game for the Islanders on November 3, 2007. On March 11, 2008, Walter finally scored his first NHL goal (and point) against Karri Ramo and the Tampa Bay Lightning.