Rebels introduce Derrick Walser as eighth head coach in Club history

The Red Deer Rebels have named former NHL defenceman Derrick Walser as the eighth head coach in franchise history.

The Club announced Walser’s hiring Wednesday morning. The 45-year-old joins the Rebels from the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, with whom he has served as an assistant coach since 2017.

Walser helped guide the Petes to an OHL championship and Memorial Cup appearance this past spring.

“We’re excited to have Derrick as our new head coach,” said Rebels owner, president and general manager Brent Sutter. “It was a very thorough process of going through who we felt would be the right person to be our head coach, and through the process Derrick checked a lot of boxes that made sense for us.

We are excited to welcome Derrick, his wife Sara, and sons Camden and Hudson to Red Deer.”

“I’m excited for everything,” Walser added. “We’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to play as a team. Doesn’t matter if you have 50 goals or 10 goals. Everyone’s role is going to be important, no matter what role you are playing.”

“I want to continue to grow and keep developing kids and hopefully they’ll get to their dream and get to play in the National Hockey League,” Walser added.

“On behalf of the Peterborough Petes, we’d like to congratulate Derrick as he takes this exciting step in his coaching career,” noted Petes general manager Michael Oke. “Over the last six years Derrick has been a staple on the Petes bench and has earned the opportunity to become a head coach at this level. We wish Derrick, his wife Sara, and their sons Camden and Hudson nothing but the best in this transition.”

Hailing from New Glasgow, N.S., Walser enjoyed a nineteen-year professional career that included 92 games of NHL experience with the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2001-02 through 2006-07. He won an American Hockey League Calder Cup with the Saint John Flames in 2001, before capturing a trio of German DEL titles in 2005, 2006 and 2011.

Internationally, Walser hoisted the Spengler Cup in 2013.

Walser was also named the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Canadian Hockey League Defenceman of the Year in 1997-98 as a member of the Rimouski Oceanic.