The game is up for Graeme Walton after 10 years at Giants
“Ten years is a long time, but it goes quickly when you are doing something you really love.”
Those were Graeme Walton’s thoughts after a huge career with the Giants lasting ten exciting years.
This Belfast native started watching hockey back in the days of Castlereagh Knights playing out of Dundonald Ice Dome with Jim Graves (Rockies) playing between the pipes, coaching too, and long before the Giants were even thought about.
Graeme also played hockey in Scotland for the Solway Sharks. Boarding the bus then the ferry to Scotland, getting home just in time for school on Monday morning illustrated Wally’s strength of character and determination to play the game he loved.
During the early years of the Odyssey Arena based Giants, whilst playing in the Super League, you would have found Walton following Belfast as a fan. He hardly dared to think that he would end up being the longest serving Giant of all time, or indeed that 13 years after the Giants started hundreds would all be gathering to celebrate his career.
Giants General Manager, Todd Kelman used to partner Walton on the ‘Blue Line Brigade’ and has known him for ten years as a Belfast Giant and had plenty to say on seeing his long-time comrade call time on his career: “I am lucky enough to have known him as a team mate and a good friend before I ever became a GM, which unfortunately puts a distance between you and the players, whether you want it or not. Graeme knows me and I know Graeme better than most guys I have played with, or that have played for me.
“When you have the same ‘D’ partner for a couple of seasons straight, every single game playing together, you get to know someone very well. We played together for two entire seasons, one where we only played four defensemen. That’s 65 games and a lot of ice time that our local Giant played that season and that year he also got his first call up to the Team GB Senior Team, a feat that no player from Northern Ireland before or after has accomplished.
“Not bad for a kid that had to take the ferry over nearly every single weekend for years to get to games in Scotland and learn his trade with his pals on the ice at Dundonald Ice Bowl.
“I am very proud of what Graeme has done as a Giant and for the Giants, and on a broader scale, what he has done for Northern Ireland. To have our longest serving Giant of all time actually being from Belfast is so special and probably the most impressive accomplishment of his to date.
“The Giants belong to the people of Belfast, and being a Belfast Giant could never mean the same thing to me or any of the guys that were not born and bred here as it does to the guys from Northern Ireland. Players like current Giants Andrew Dickson and Gareth Roberts, or names from the past like Hugh Smyth, Gareth Martin, Davey Morrison, Chris McGimpsey, Robbie Brown and of course the legendary Mark Morrison.
“You see, after the first 3 years of the Giants when the locals joined our team, it was the first time I really understood the importance of being a Giant. It will always mean more to those guys (and all future Giants who eventually make it up to their hometown team) than it does to the rest of us who didn’t grow up here.
“We can never quite ‘GET IT’ despite what we read, or how long we are here or how much we try to understand. Graeme ‘GETS IT…’ Always has. Always will.
“He knows that this team belongs more to the people who cheer from the stands than it does to the players wearing the jerseys. He knows that playing for his hometown team was his own little NHL and that for him, winning a title (or 5 in his case) was a high that he never imagined he would experience in his ice hockey career. I like that about Wally.
“I like that he takes the time to speak to every fan. I like that you can throw him in a room with anyone and he can keep them smiling, and I like that even ten years on he has not lost that passion for playing for his hometown team.
“The Belfast Giants are so much more than an ice hockey team and Graeme Walton is so much more than a Belfast Giant but he always put this team first and has been a great ambassador for our team and our sport for the past decade,” concluded Kelman.
After his last Odyssey game Wally was deservedly named ‘Man of the Match’ and the Giants’ management retired the number 18 game shirt forever. Talking after his last home game Graeme stated: “I had a wonderful 10 years playing for the Giants and what the Management did for me over last year and my Testimonial Match has been just top shelf. The whole ten years has been one non-stop highlight parade. It’s just a pleasure playing for your hometown team playing a sport I could only dream of playing professionally when I first started.
“Winning five titles here in the Odyssey Arena has been a dream come true and my whole time with the Giants has been a continuous highlight. When you think they retired my number – that was something I never expected or even considered. It’s a real honour. I feel very proud!
“In my last season as a Giant I would love to win the Playoff Title and bring my total to six Championships as part of being a Belfast Giant. That would be a great way to go out!”
And thus ended Walton’s comments after his last game in front of a Belfast crowd in ‘Fortress Odyssey’. Leaving with a tear in his eye but hope and inspiration still burning in his Belfast Giants’ heart for securing trophy number six.