Walt Poddubny

Walt Poddubny (born Walter Michael Poddubny on February 14, 1960) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger and coach who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1981–1982 until 1991–1992.

Playing Career
Walt played his junior hockey for the Brandon Wheat Kings, the Kitchener Rangers and the Kingston Canadiens from 1978 to 1980.

He was drafted 90th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft where he played for only 4 games before spending the next two seasons playing in the minors for the Wichita Wind in the CHL.

On March 9, 1982, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Phil Drouillard in exchange for Laurie Boschman where he got 59 points in 72 games in his first full season with the team.

Once Walt was established as a NHL players, criticisms began to surface that he was a floater who was guilty on inconsistent play. Due to sustaining various injuries, he was sent to play for St. Catharines in the AHL.

On August 18, 1986, he was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Mike Allison. While with the Rangers, Walt scored a career-high of 40 goals and 47 assists in 75 games.

He was also the recipient of the New York Rangers Fan Club's Frank Boucher Trophy for the most popular player on and off the ice in both years and the team's Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award from the Professional Hockey Writers Association in 1987.

On August 1, 1988, Walt was traded to the Quebec Nordiques along with Jari Gronstrand, Bruce Bell and New York's 4th-round choice in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Jason Lafreniere and Normand Rochefort.

While in Quebec, he continued to put up impressive numbers, but on June 17, 1989, he was traded to the New Jersey Devils along with Quebec's 4th-round choice in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Joe Cirella, Claude Loiselle and New Jersey's 8th-round choice in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.

Walt played in New Jersey for 21 games until he retired from the NHL in 1991. Two years later, he attempted a comeback with the Worchester Ice Cats where he played with them for 34 games before retiring for good in 1995.

During his career, Walt played 468 career NHL games, scoring 184 goals and 238 assists for 422 points.

Coaching Career
After his career in the NHL, Walt coached several hockey teams including six seasons as the head coach of the Anchorage Aces.

Death
On March 21, 2009, Walt died from a heart attack after collapsing at his sister's home in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada at the age of 49.

Coaching
‡ - Midseason Replacement

Roller Hockey Career
Walt played roller hockey for the Las Vegas Flash and the Orlando Rollergators in 1994 and 1995 respectively.