Saskatoon Blades defenceman Scott Walford reflects on his junior hockey career and feels no regrets.
“I think that being a junior hockey player, you want to make sure that you can say that at the end of your career that you left everything out there.”
As he, like all Canadian Hockey League players, has had his final junior hockey season cut short, Walford reflects on his experiences in the WHL and also looks forward to new challenges.
Walford was selected in the first round, 18th overall in the 2014 Bantam Draft by the Victoria Royals. He played in 290 regular-season games, totaling 30 goals and 144 assists over that span. In 24 playoff games, Walford collected 2 goals and 11 assists.
His personal achievements saw him named to the Western Conference Second All-Star Team for the 2018-19 WHL Regular Season as well as the Team WHL at the CIBC Canada Russia Series. Other achievements include Top Defenceman award for the Saskatoon Blades in 2019-2020 season, selected as the Top Defenceman Award for the Victoria Royals for the 2018-2019 season and awarded the Royals’ Most Dedicated Player Award for 2019 and 2017.
Walford was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the third round, 68th overall, of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. The Habs chose not to sign him, however, leaving Walford a free agent. He also attended the Winnipeg Jets’ rookie camp this past summer.
Last summer, the Royals traded Walford, a seventh-round draft pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft and a conditional pick to the Blades for Gary Haden, the rights to Riley Gannon, a fourth-round pick in 2022 and a conditional pick from Saskatoon.
Walford has experienced the elation of being selected in the NHL draft to the adversity of missing entire playoffs due to injury.
After speaking with Scott, I found him to be one of the more grounded and well-spoken players I’ve had the privilege of talking to.
As you are the first 20-year-old I have talked to since the season and playoffs were canceled, I’d like to ask what are your thoughts on how you are feeling?
SCOTT WALFORD: I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t get to finish my 20-year-old season. At the same time, I know the Western Hockey League does such a great job protecting the players and they always have our interests first. So other than disappointment, they definitely made the right choice. When I look back at my career, I’m very thankful for the time that I’ve had. It’s a hard way to end but I am not dwelling on it. At the end of the day, I’m really happy with the career that I had.
Is it tougher to have a season cut short by injury like you had in the past, or to have it cut short by this current situation? With one, you were basically alone on the sidelines watching the rest of the guys, where now you are off with everyone.
SW: They’re both like you said they’re different. When I got injured in my 17 and 18-year-old seasons it’s definitely lonely at times, you have to push through some hard times. It prepared me for this personally. Currently, it’s harder in that it doesn’t just affect yourself. You’re worried about the safety of your friends, family, teammates, and everyone. So, I think an injury is maybe a little harder initially on the emotions, but this situation is harder. As we go through it as a society, it’s so much bigger than the game.
What are your thoughts on this past season with Saskatoon? It was a big change for yourself but you seem to have adjusted well with your new team.
SW: I was really happy. Other than one stretch. It was a good change for me. I love the organization, from the ownership down to the coaches, teammates, and staff. I thought that it was cool to experience a real winter in Canada. I was so fortunate to have a great billet family, great teammates, and coaches. Playing in the other division took a little bit of time to adjust that to a new system, but overall it was a great experience for me.
Now Saskatoon didn’t quite have the season a lot of us were expecting but it was also a tough conference in the East. Kirby Dach staying with the Chicago Blackhawks was very good for him but I’m sure he was missed by the team as well. In the end, the Blades qualified for the playoffs but was there any frustration with the season?
SW: I think it was hard to predict Kirby was going to be back after being taken third overall [the 2019 NHL Entry Draft] and we would have loved to have him back. But at the same time playing in the NHL has always been his dream. It would have obviously helped us a lot, but I also felt that the made the moves that were made at the deadline really made us a hard team to play against. So, I really liked the team that we had going into playoffs and we were playing really good hockey. Any pressure that we maybe felt was internally and being competitive guys, we wanted to win every game. We had goals for ourselves and I think that we were coming together at the right time. If you look at one-through-eight in both conferences, it was a year that there no true favorites. Anyone could sneak up on anyone and there are teams that matched up. So as a team, we were really excited about the playoffs and thought we were peaking at the right time.
The Blades recognized you with a team award for the Top Defencemen. That’s some nice recognition of your season.
SW: It was nice to get recognized like that. The award is a team award. Maybe I had a few more points than some other guys but I had such great teammates and coaching that I couldn’t have done it without them.
What is it like playing for Saskatoon Head Coach Mitch love and what did he offer to you and your development?
SW: It was a different voice I hadn’t had before. A different style than Dave [Lowry] and a different style than Dan [Price]. And being a defenseman himself, he with Ryan Marsh and Ryan Keller, had different outlooks on the game. I learned a lot from them. They’re great human beings and they know so much about the game. I’m not sure when Mitch will go pro but I’m sure it’ll be soon.
Now your situation with the Montreal Canadiens, I know it was really important to you to get signed and unfortunately, that didn’t happen. How frustrating was that for you?
SW: It was frustrating, but it was something that motivated me. I had the best offseason of my career and it was one of my first healthy ones, to be honest. It was nice to have a great offseason and I think my hard work showed on the ice this year. It was definitely a setback that I didn’t expect but a setback that I needed because that made me really look at my training and a lot of aspects of my life. I tried to become the best athlete and person that I could because of that.
Starting your career in Victoria and then spending multiple seasons there. It surely has by quick for you.
SW: Yeah, definitely. The first night that I got to play a game, I remember being pretty starstruck. We were playing in Spokane and I had the help of some good teammates and we won both games. After that, showing up to my billet house when I was 16-yers-old, I remember being wide-eyed at never living with someone that I hadn’t known before. They welcomed me with open arms and we became family right away. After that, there’s a lot of growing up in the league. Coming in with a coach like Dave Lowry, you learn pretty quick to toe the line and to make sure that you’re good every day. Because of injuries, I got a lot more ice time when I was 17-years-old and I made the most of it and got drafted. Then I think personally, I took a bit of a step back when I was 18-years-old. I had such high expectations for myself, but I was just overthinking my game to end that season. With the injury, I had a lot of reflection time and just a really hard summer of body of work. Then spending time in Montreal to develop, do my rehab, and then came back for a 19-year-old season. I look back on my four years in Victoria, and it’s really modeled me to be who I am today. I’ve learned so much and I can’t thank you enough to the Victoria Royals organization, the coaches I had – Dave [Lowry], Dan [Price], J.F. [Best], Doug [Bodger] and Enio [Sacilotto]. They’ve really shaped me into who I am today.
Favourite memory, anything that sticks out?
SW: I got a couple of ones with my time with the Royals. Winning the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for memories hockey-wise. We had a good group of card players in the back of the bus last year with Griffin Outhouse, Ralph Jarratt, D-Jay Jerome, we played every bus trip. That was definitely something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Then being drafted and putting on the Habs jersey for the first time and how exciting that was. I think those would be my top three memories.
Of all the players you’ve played with and against, does anyone stand out in their ability to play the game?
SW: When I was young, I looked up to everyone so much. I mean playing against guys like Matthew Barzal and guys like that I looked up to. You never realize how good Joe Hicketts is until you see him at practice every day and how hard he works. And then there are so many guys that I got to play with – Matthew Philips, Tyler Soy, Chaz Reddekopp – that were such good friends and shared so much knowledge of the game with me. But I’d say probably the two best players that I got to play with or against in the Western Hockey League were Matthew Barzal and Joe Hicketts.
What’s next for Scott Walford? You’ve been to camps with Montreal and the Winnipeg Jets, and now you’re fully healthy. The push must still be for pro hockey, correct?
SW: My goal is to get an NHL contract and if that doesn’t come, I’ll be weighing my options with my family. The education package that the Western Hockey League provides is second to none. My family has always believed that it’s an amazing education route because the schools in Canada are so strong. So, for me right now, it’s weighing out the school option and then hoping that an NHL deal comes along the way.
Lastly, if you had to give some advice to a young 16-year-old Scott Walford, what would it be?
SW: Don’t overthink it. I’d say there are times in my career that I overthought things when I maybe should have just been in the moment playing. Maybe I worried a bit too much. So, I’d say don’t overthink it, just make sure you have fun with it because it goes so fast. I’ve been fortunate to say that I don’t have any regrets or that there is anything that I could have changed. I think that being a junior hockey player, you want to make sure that you can say that at the end of your career that you left everything out there. There are no ‘ifs’, ‘ands’ or ‘buts’.
