BELFAST, NI – Belfast Giants have announced that Northern Ireland’s own Graeme Walton has re-signed for the 2010-11 season, his 8th season with the club. The 27 year old is the second player to sign under the new regime with Doug Christiansen at the helm.
Christiansen commented on his latest signing.
“Graeme Walton is going to be a vital part of our team. He has proven himself as a defender but I was also really impressed with his versatility when I watched him at the playoff championship when he played forward. His ability to play both positions will really help us if we run into injuries. I expect him to have a great year. He is going to be given every opportunity to succeed and I have high expectations for him.”
Graeme Walton was pleased to be back for another year with the Giants and is looking forward to seeing the team that his new coach will put together.
“We have a lot of guys moving on due to retiring from the game or moving onto different leagues. There will be a lot of new faces in the Giants locker room next season, but I met with Doug and I think he is very focused on continuing on the successful path we have been on over the last two seasons. It’s going to be a busy off-season for him but he has a great track record of finding excellent players for this league.”
Walton then commented on coming back for an 8th season.
“I can’t believe it will be 8 seasons, it goes quick, but after last season, I knew that I wasn’t going anywhere else. Winning is the reason we play this game and we win a lot here in Belfast. I am looking forward to being part of another coach’s plans for a championship team. It’s going to be a great year!”
Graham Walton – a Belfast winner
Walton is going into his 8th season with his hometown team. In 7 seasons, Walton has won four major championships; a league title in 2006, the British Knock Out Cup and the Challenge Cup in 2009 and the Playoff Championship just four weeks ago. He currently sits 3rd all-time on the games played list for the Giants franchise with 397 games. In his 7 seasons, he has scored a total of 7 goals and 45 assists for 52 total points. Walton also has the distinction of being Northern Ireland’s only player ever selected to play for Great Britain The Belfast native is coming off another successful season with the Giants where he notched 1 goal and 7 assists in 46 league games. Contact the autho r Pete.Lewis@prohockeynews.com
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