Becoming Wild: Sammy Walker

Sammy Walker’s high school hockey coach calls him a “poster child” of Minnesota hockey. After launching his career in Edina and continuing it with the Golden Gophers, Sammy is thrilled to be right at home as part of the Minnesota Wild organization. In this episode of Becoming Wild–presented by Toyota–see how Sammy stays connected to family and friends in his home state and find out how overcoming the odds has been in his blood since the day he was born.

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I’ll tell you what if you’re going to have a poster child from Minnesota hockey Sammy Walker’s got to be it I mean he’s very respectful he works extremely hard he’s very respectful to other teams his teammates coaching staff teachers Sammy just a great kid with all the great players that have

Came out ofana it’s I know it’s it’s a huge honor it was a great honor for Sammy to win that it was a great honor for us as well to be part of that and sami’s the kind of person that made you feel like you were part of it very

Grateful he’s very respectful and he’s an extremely hard worker first time I wanted to be a gopher I was pretty young I mean I I always wanted to go to the U and you grow up here you go to all the games and

As soon as I offered I took it I think I was a sophomore T the pr he let AA go from the top of the left and the Gophers tie it up that’s after was deflected by Walker you see the work ethic and like you said you see the

Energy he brings to your team and the positivity and you know he he’s a total package as far as a hockey player turns around to Walker and a score Sammi is just like he’s electric speed and he’s fearless and I and when I say Fearless like there’s no moment

That’s too big for him you know he wants the puck he’s going to try to make things happen and he was young but you could just see it bubbling underneath that that this kid had something special Walker wins it for the goers it’s a lot of timing in hockey

Right and um Tampa wanted him to leave after his junior year and he really didn’t want he wasn’t ready to leave he he felt and um he liked the coaching staff there he like loved the players and uh it just kind of worked out that

He had to wait a few months and couldn’t have worked out any better I mean just local especially for him you know play at e Dina play at the stay home he knows how lucky he is is really grateful to have him close and I think

It’s just he loves being here cuz his friendships and I I think it’s just been a really good thing for him fortunately for me the wild wanted to sign me and that was that was incredible um especially you know growing up in Minnesota and it’s it’s been incredible ever Since [Applause] so what we got here is the third year of the Sammy Walker Hockey Camp looks like we got all the groups set up and now it’s just go and have some fun how’s it going you guys working on some skating in here [Applause] just a [Applause]

Little I always wanted to run a camp just cuz I I love camps growing up and we had about you know just over 200 kids there for a week long and it was incredible how’s it going what’s up Joey are you guys having fun about three

Years ago when the nil rules changed for college athletes to start making money on their name image and likeness uh I got a call from Sammy the day it changed and said Mary let’s do a camp let’s try to get something going and so we got Camp going three summers ago and I’m

Helping guys like Sammy all over the country run camps just like this they’re playing freeze tag right now the first day is is always super hectic in the next few days the parents just drop them off they know where where they’re going and just try to bounce around from each

Group and try to you know get to know the kids and have fun with the kids oh Joey needs to be caught you need to be caught sami’s on the ice all the time at Camp he knows all of these players he’s helping put together the drills he gets

To know the kids one of the things that’s really cool about Sammy is he makes sure that every kid gets time one-on-one with him every day at Camp you got a Target on your [Applause] back go got him like I’ll go up to random kids and be like do you know

Sammy Walker I’m like I am and so it’s I try to I try to meet everyone and and you know just have fun with it hey who let you up who let you up coming he’s coming Samy’s definitely a kid at heart he loves having fun uh

Enjoys just messing around on the ice and a great guy with a fun personality and the little kids just really enjoy working with them all who thinks they can catch me who thinks they can catch me really all right the only thing I can see different is these kids are a little

Bit smaller than Sammy but they act they act the same when they’re on the ice together oh no you’re not going to get [Applause] me a you got me oh get out of here there’s guys that he played with like current golfers such as Bryce badzinski and Carl

Fish some former golfers Johnny s and Ben Brinkman uh Conley’s here from the Iowa wild and then all of our head coaches our current Minnesota High School coaches that have worked with kids and know how to lead groups and are taking sami’s lead on what he wants the

Kids learning and what he wants done on the ice and off the ice all right hey right here only right leg push all right it’s an all day thing I feel like if they’re just on the ice they’re going to get burnt out and probably not want to

Be there so we usually you know they have off ice stuff and on ice stuff in the morning and then lunch and then they have another on ice and and off ice session in the afternoon no [Applause] way hey let’s see who who can hit the most targets

There oh there’s one you know behind the back of this rink they have a shooting area with the net and stick handling boards so kind of just getting them to to mess around more so hopefully when they leave here and leave Camp they keep working on it and keep shooting Pucks in

In their garage or driveway and whatnot when I was their age that’s kind of what I did every day was was shooting pucks and stick handling in my garage just a bunch of holes my mom was not too happy with me but that’s kind of that’s what I

Did almost every day growing up moraca what do you got in here I don’t know anybody else who can put on a camp that big and have it run so smoothly and it’s incredible what he’s done not only for you know Edina but for all these kids at

This camp and um it’s just incredible what he does Sammy has followed his gut he’s followed his intuition from staying his senior year at Edina to deciding to be a goer and I think that that’s a lesson to a lot of young players out there you’re going to have a lot of

Voices around you telling you what they think you should do but do what you want to do what’s your name Max Max Max is done yeah see Max woo you know at the end of the week when kids are like I love it was such a fun

Week I’m coming next year and like that’s just so it’s so fun for me to hear and then like they bring their friends and it’s it’s awesome yeah I love seeing that This is uh E minor d and c and those are kind of the four main chords I started playing guitar three years ago cuz it was when Co was happening and I was like pretty bored and I was very frustrating at first but I finally got a couple chords down then

I could play a few songs and then it kind of just took off after that and I wanted to learn more songs and and keep it going and so it’s been a it’s been a super fun Hobby I have apps that you just like have guitar tabs on it and I’ll listen to a song or I’ll find a new song that I like and I I just want to learn it once you learn the chords and and kind of understand the timing it’s pretty easy

To to pick up new songs and the strumming kind of just comes Naturally We’re at Minnesota made hockey with the dino location we’ve got some um slick training hockey going on this on this sheet of ice this is a program that runs all summer long they skate here and then they go over to the Dryland facility but it keeps them skating and in shape all

Summer it’s a hockey rink where my mom worked uh when I was younger growing up I spent pretty much every day there just kind of hopping back and forth between uh the different clinics it’s a place that you know it means a lot to me and it’s it’s always fun going back there

With me is Sammy Walker today’s drill is going to be our pullback it’s the sister drill of the toe pull I’m going to act as Sam’s cone Sam’s going to be fairly close to me I want to say I was like eight or something it was just me like

Doing stick candling drills that I do every day there all right maybe we’ll have him show off just a little bit and do with a Russian tap I think Sammy has always loved the game for sure hockey but literally any game he was playing his heartbeats and his blood rushes

Competition through and through always Has can you kind of give me your perspective what you experien uh when Sammy was born yeah that was um that was something to go through we found out about it on our just routine ultr sound and from there it was just a horrible few months he had what was called an aalos

Seal and uh it’s it’s where the umbilical cord around the stomach doesn’t seal so the baby ends up growing in the womb basically with an open stomach where uh his intestines his liver different things were all outside his body I would go lay down at the end

Of every day I had three kids I was taking care of and they said on that day when he doesn’t kick give us a call and then we’ll know he’s he’s passed and just to go through that on a daily basis was horrible we had a physician there

That really put it into perspective for me that he he’s just like Ron just relax like if you’re trying to figure all this stuff out it’s you’re better off just you know praying and being positive and waking up the next day and doing it again I just had this feeling of

Everything’s all right he’s just fine but then Sammy was born and we both looked at each other and we’re like he’s perfect of course he’s got this bowling ball size growth it looked like on the outside of him which were all his organs but but he was he was healthy and he was

8 lb and he had four surgeries by the time he was a year old old I guess um maybe even younger than that then as soon as he started moving um I was called him the million-dollar baby cuz that’s about how much he cost what I know now just like what they

Went through I couldn’t even imagine I mean they’re Warriors and I’m so grateful for them and everything they’ve they’ve went through for that and putting up with me all these years uh yeah they’re awesome all right Sammy let’s see what you got it’s not

Bad got under it a bit man I didn’t even know if he’d be able to play sports like I was so worried about his stomach like kindergarten the thing was just Rock Solid like I was worried is he going to is it going to get Jarred and wreck his

Liver I don’t know he’s just been a daredevil from the the get-go so it’s just been amazing really he was climbing on stuff before he could walk on his own i t Tau him how to ride his bike and he’s riding down the block and um could barely he’d only been

Balancing for for I don’t know an hour or two and he comes down the block and he’s standing on his seat who does that Ron and I are like what the heck so I I spent the next you know 15 years trying to keep him alive um save him from

Himself get in get in no way was that yeah I wasn’t supposed to live I guess you just it makes you more grateful and just uh I don’t know try to make the most of it especially just you know for them I mean it’s hard to even

Imagine kind of what they went through so kind of just trying to make them proud and make the most of of my life So we’re here in uh Eden Prairie the community center here play some Bandy we’re just playing indoor today uh 4 on four real Bandy is outside 11 on 11 it’s like a soccer field ice sheet like the Roseville oval with like huge soccer nets so the indoor is a little bit different you

Can kind of see the the sticks here that we use but yeah it’s a big one tonight the defending champs are us and uh we’re playing The Sparrows and they they’re who we beat in the championship and they’re first in the league right now so should be a good One do you guys have a team name yeah it’s the spankies let play some Bandy huh go [Applause] spankies good [Applause] pass it’s on the ice but it’s kind of like soccer rules almost the sticks that we use are kind of they’re smaller they probably come up to your waist and they’re straight curve not like shooting a normal Puck it’s kind of like you’re

Like whacking at it almost like a golf swing the goalies they don’t have a stick they just have kind of two padded gloves it’s really weird you got to get used to it especially the two gloves just being almost like a soccer goalie it’s something to get used used to and

It’s uh a little frustrating at times all right gav we’re up early 3 0 gav standing on his head back there but up early on these guys it’s a good thing you know we have eight teams in the league and you know most teams you’re getting a pretty good game so that’s why

I keep playing it’s it’s awesome uh it’s a good workout it’s a lot of fun too oh my doing it’s probably us and The Sparrows every year battling back and forth they’re a good team and they play Bandy and we play hockey Bandy so once we’re up just play defense and and it

Worked nice that’s do same’s one of my best friends we grew up playing hockey together we grew up on Rival hockey team so uh just kind of bonded through hockey and our friendship’s kind of stuck [Applause] through no way Sam’s a guy that everybody wants to be around you see

Kind of like naturally people are drawn to him he’s super fun or kind of the happy go-lucky um just honestly one of the best guys that I [Applause] know it’s fun to watch it’s almost like the ball is stuck to a stick the whole game and just watching him it’s like a

Skills competition is out there so it’s it’s really fun to watch yeah good win boys good win Just Master Class gosh it feels good that’s what they say that’s what they call going up no matter what new sheriff new sheriff in town the Spankies my wrong way hey what’s up I think I started playing pickleball a couple summers ago I feel like last summer was when it kind of really got popular and everyone was started playing now this summer we just we love it we’ve been playing it a lot

Oh got Max Max is my really good friend from Idina used to live by him I’ve known him since I was I don’t know like five or something and then his teammate Danny is here cuz they they play at St John’s and Danny’s mom’s just filling in for the fourth for uh today

Nice was that not a double hit what happened there I think we’ve both gotten a lot better from when we started we both were not terribly good but try hard wow right up that was really nice it’s a good workout it’s I feel like it’s a little easier to pick up than tennis

It’s not as much running too you know after you have a hard workout and skate it’s you’re more willing to go play pickle ball than go run around tennis court dude that was a nice return there yeah he’s super busy I tell him all the time he’s so lucky like his friend group

You know from Edina the Gophers new Buddies he has with the wild feel weird if if it’s nice out and I’m just sitting inside I have to go pick a ball or golf or something a Almost tonight the road trip concludes in Vancouver with a rematch against the Canucks and to help out a fresh face is on the scene Sammy Walker ready to make his NHL debut front we got moose got we got spury midy [Applause] kick moments aren’t too big for him he’s

Just going to play the way he plays and he made a he made an impression his very first game for the Wild and yeah it was cool to watch then the puck knocked away he got it back walker cuts to the net penalty coming against Vancouver Walker

Draws the penalty with his drive to the net and the wild will go on to the power play for the second time what’s fun to see Sammy go on to the next level and do the things that he’s doing is he kind of expected it with the talent that He had

And the work ethic that he had you know he always wondered with his size and stuff like that if he’s going to be big enough to do it and of course like everything else Sammy did was uh he made the best of it and he’s done a great job and he

Scores the first NHL goal for Sammy Walker it’s an empty net and late the third in Winnipeg the wild have a 4 to one lead it’s just really surreal and super fun to see your child be able to play at that level you want them to keep

Playing as long as they want to keep playing but to continue to this level is just an incredible thing he doesn’t let other people’s worries or whatever affect them that’s what’s been so impressive he has so much confidence in himself right now and no matter who you

Are you know if you have a lot of confidence uh you’re a hard guy to to stop you love to see a HomeTown boy playing his hometown team and when Sammy played here he talked about the wild quite a bit and those types of things we always follow the wild so we’re always

Proud to see one of our own put on a a wild Jersey