Ryan Walter

Former Stanley Cup Champion

Leadership & Performance Expert

Ryan Walter played and coached more than 1100 games over 17 seasons in the National Hockey League. Drafted second overall by the Washington Capitals in 1978, Ryan was named the youngest NHL captain in his second of 4 seasons, played 9 seasons and won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens, and returned to his hometown to play his last 2 seasons for the Vancouver Canucks. He was named Team Canada Captain in the World Junior Tournament, was selected to play in the NHL All-Star game and for Team Canada in 4 World Championships, became a Vice-President of the National Hockey League Players Association, and was honoured as NHL Man of the Year in 1992. Ryan has been inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame, the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame, named to the 30 all-time Washington Capitals’ Dream team, the top 50 all-time BCHL players and the top 100 Montreal Canadiens in 100 years.

Ryan has a Master of Arts Degree in Leadership/Business. He is the author of 5 books, the creator of the board game Trade Deadline Hockey, and a regular contributor to both online and print magazines and newspapers. Ryan serves on the Hockey Canada Foundation’s Board of Directors and is a member of the Seton Hall Stillman School of Business Leadership Advisory Council.

Ryan won a Gold Medal at his inaugural 4 Nations Cup tournament as Head Coach of Canada’s National Women’s Hockey Team. He has been an NHL coach, co-founder and president of two start-up companies, a TV hockey analyst, and a hockey adviser and actor for both television and movies. Ryan’s enthusiasm from the page, the screen, the bench, the boardroom, and the podium is contagious as he fulfills his mission to “Inspire the hungry spirit!”

Coaching HUNGRY Teams

Increasingly, a leader’s ability to engage and empower their players determines the performance of their organization. But how do you ensure you’re getting the most from your individual players and your team? Ryan demonstrates techniques used by NHL coaches and managers that result in HIGH PERFORMANCE CULTURE. Whether you are a sports coach, a parent, a manager, or a CEO, coaching is an essential process in all that you do; both performance-coaching and coaching your next generation of coaches and leaders so that they are prepared and properly trained to step up.

Playing in the ZONE – Maximizing Personal Performance

We have all been in the zone before, but how do we consistently stay there?

Ryan reaches back into his 15 season NHL career to extrapolate the principles he used as a professional athlete for consistently driving high performance, and transfers these into practical steps that work in your environment. Your audience will learn about recognizing personal strengths and their impact on team performance, as well as how the team’s level of synergy sucks or supplies energy to individuals.

Performance Process

Ryan inspires and facilitates change-energy, helping you examine your inner game in his performance process. Championship results come from championship habits, continuous practiced action drives these habits, and all action is generated by mindset and belief system. Mindset and your Inner Game are greatly influenced by experiences. Whether teams are struggling, or striving towards greater success, they will benefit from activating Ryan’s Performance Process.

Team & Leadership Training

Ryan presents up to 5 half or full days of interactive performance, team, and leadership development sessions that have lasting impact. Tailored to each culture’s specific needs, the sessions can cover a variety of areas including mindset, communication, generational leadership, Personal Style Indicator, coaching, conflict resolution, effective speaking, sales development, team synergy, and an outdoor Team Journey.