Cody Oakwood here for Dashers Insider. Last week if you follow me on Twitter @Oak87Cody I told you a little about a goaltender that will be in camp with the Dashers next month. Earlier today I was able to get time with him for an interview over the phone. So enjoy the first installment of Dashers Insider Interviews with goaltender Pete Walker.
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| Pete Walker |
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Heading into camp next month I will do interviews with as many players as possible and get their take on the upcoming season and playing in Danville. Dashers head coach, Scott Beneke told me about a 20 year-old goaltender coming into camp with time in the ECHL in his resume. That goaltender is Pete Walker. When I first was told that he had been in the ECHL last season I wondered, why is he coming down to the FHL? Luckily, I was able to find Pete on Twitter and he was kind enough to make a phone call and join me for an interview for Dashers Insider.
Pete was one of the top high school goalies in the state of Ohio from 2005-09 winning a State Championship and two CHSHL titles as the goaltender for Lakota East High School. Not only was he a starting goalie but he was given an opportunity by the OHSAA to play high school hockey as an 8th grader. Yes, he was not even in high school but he quickly turned heads of coaches and his very own teammates making 27 saves in his first start in route to a 2-0 shutout of LaSalle High School. "I was 14 playing with what I felt were men. Those guys were 17 and 18 years old we had one Freshman and two or three Sophomores. Everyone else was a Junior or Senior. It was surreal to win my first game and gain those guys respect."
However, Pete does not like to speak too much about his accomplishments in high school. His goal now is to make the Danville roster out of camp and be the starting goaltender when the season opens in October. Last year, he got his first taste of professional hockey dressing in a game in the ECHL for his hometown Cincinnati Cyclones against the Toledo Walleye. "That was really a dream come true for me. It was a locker room I grew up in as a kid and the only thing that I really ever wanted to do was come out of that tunnel in a Cyclones uniform." Icing on the cake for Pete was the Cyclones won the game 5-1. "The head coach (Jarrod Skalde) and I joked for a while after that I should be on the bench every game that I was a good luck charm."
So finally I closed out my phone call with Pete asking him what his goals were this season with the Danville Dashers. "Obviously making the roster out of camp is first on the list. But for me just giving coach Beneke the faith in me every night that he can put me in goal and get a win. I want to win a championship in Danville and while I would love to earn an CHL or ECHL call up it's my goal first and foremost to win a championship for the city of Danville."
I really appreciate Pete for taking time out of his day, especially right after a workout to call me and do an interview with me for this blog. He is a very poised, respectful young man and I hope I get to watch him this season in a Dasher uniform. In the next couple days I will be joined by Dashers forward Kyle Lagace for his view on the upcoming season.
