- Mitch Wahl
-
Mitch Wahl 
Born January 22, 1990
Seal Beach, CA, USHeight 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Weight 199 lb (90 kg; 14 st 3 lb) Position Center Shoots Right NHL team (P)
Cur. teamCalgary Flames
Abbotsford Heat (AHL)NHL Draft 48th overall, 2008
Calgary FlamesPlaying career 2010–present Mitch Wahl (born January 22, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey player for the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League. He is a prospect with the Calgary Flames, selected in the second round (48th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
Wahl played four years of junior hockey with the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL), winning the WHL championship and Memorial Cup in 2008. He was named a First Team All-Star by the WHL in 2009–10 before turning professional at the conclusion of his junior season. He was a member of the American junior team at the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
Contents
Personal
Wahl grew up in Seal Beach, California. His parents, Mitch Sr. and Michelle, knew little about hockey but enrolled him in the sport after he showed an aptitude for skating during a birthday party for his elder sister.[1] He began playing at the age of six, and credits the arrival of Wayne Gretzky with the Los Angeles Kings for creating opportunities for himself and other players in southern California.[2] Wahl is also an avid surfer.[1]
Playing career
Wahl played minor hockey with the California Wave, and caught the attention of WHL scouts while playing in tournaments in Vancouver, Kamloops and Medicine Hat.[2] He was selected in the first round, fourth overall, by the Spokane Chiefs in the 2005 WHL Bantam Draft.[3] After appearing in two games with the Chiefs in 2005–06, Wahl joined the team full time in 2006–07, scoring 16 goals and 48 points in 69 games.[4] He improved to 73 points in 2007–08, and added 14 points in 21 playoff games as the Chiefs won the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions.[4][5] At the 2008 Memorial Cup tournament, Wahl scored six points in four games to help the Chiefs win the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) championship.[6]
Wahl's success attracted the attention of the Calgary Flames, who selected him with their second pick, 48th overall, at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.[6] He also joined the United States men's national junior ice hockey team for the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, scoring four points for the fifth place Americans.[7] He finished the 2008–09 WHL season with 32 goals and 63 points.[4] In 2009–10, he finished sixth in league scoring with 96 points and was named a First Team All-Star by the WHL. He ended his WHL career in sixth place all-time in scoring for the Chiefs with 284 points and third all-time in assists with 186. The team also named him one of the top 25 players in their first 25 seasons.[8] Upon the conclusion of his WHL season, Wahl joined the Flames's AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat. He played in four regular season games, scoring a goal and three assists, and remained with the team into the 2010 Calder Cup playoffs.[9]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2005–06 Spokane Chiefs WHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2006–07 Spokane Chiefs WHL 69 16 32 48 40 4 0 1 1 5 2007–08 Spokane Chiefs WHL 67 20 53 73 63 21 6 8 14 20 2008–09 Spokane Chiefs WHL 63 32 35 67 78 12 2 11 13 6 2009–10 Spokane Chiefs WHL 72 30 66 96 96 7 4 5 9 8 2009–10 Abbotsford Heat AHL 4 1 3 4 0 12 2 4 6 4 2010–11 Abbotsford Heat AHL 17 1 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 WHL totals 273 98 186 284 287 44 12 25 37 39 International
Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM Team result 2009 United States WJC 6 1 3 4 2 Fifth place International totals 6 1 3 4 2 Awards and honors
Award Year Junior WHL First All-Star Team 2009–10 [10][dead link] References
- ^ a b Hall, Vicki (2010-04-24). "Flames prospect will surf gym more instead of beach". Calgary Herald. http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/Flames+prospect+will+surf+more+instead+beach/2948433/story.html. Retrieved 2010-04-25.[dead link]
- ^ a b King, Patrick (2007-10-19). "A Wahl of a player". Rogers Sportsnet. http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/2007/10/19/king_whal/. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ Flett, Cory and Watts, Jessie, ed. 2009–10 WHL Guide. Western Hockey League. p. 126.
- ^ a b c Hanlon, Peter; Kelso, Sean (2009) (PDF). 2009–10 Calgary Flames Media Guide. Calgary Flames Hockey Club. p. 127. http://flames.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=40390.
- ^ "Spokane Chiefs earn berth in the MasterCard Memorial Cup". Canadian Hockey League. 2008-05-09. http://www.chl.ca/fullstory.php?id=487. Retrieved 2010-04-25.[dead link]
- ^ a b "Surfs up in Calgary". Canadian Press. 2008-06-21. http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2008/06/21/flames_draft_recap/. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ "2009 WJHC Statistics" (pdf). International Ice Hockey Federation. http://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/172/IHM1720USA_83_7_0.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ "Wahl, Beach move on". SWXRN. 2010-04-02. http://www.swxrightnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12249869. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ Hennessy, Kristi (2010-04-21). "Wahl shows skills in the AHL". Calgary Flames Hockey Club. http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=526492. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ "WHL announces 2009–10 Conference All-Star teams and award finalists". Western Hockey League. 2010-03-18. http://www.whl.ca/whl-announces-2009-10-conference-all-star-teams-and-award-finalists-p141493. Retrieved 2010-04-25.[dead link]
External links
Categories:- 1990 births
- Living people
- Abbotsford Heat players
- Calgary Flames draft picks
- Ice hockey people from California
- Memorial Cup winners
- Spokane Chiefs alumni
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