Bob Wall

Bob Wall was a standout junior hockey player with the Detroit Red Wings junior team in Hamilton in the early 1960s. In fact, Wall was a large reason why the Hamilton team captured the Memorial Cup championship in 1962. His 13 assists in 14 games led all Memorial Cup participants.

Despite his junior success, Wall only got into 40 games with Detroit Red Wings until the famous 1967 expansion. It wasn't until the league doubled in size that Wall made the NHL full time as a member of the Los Angeles Kings. For the next three years Wall enjoyed full time NHL employment and the Californian sunshine. Though he was a defenseman his whole life, he proved to be handyman with the Kings, occasionally taking a shift on a forward unit.

The St. Louis Blues acquired the honest working Wall in 1970-71, but injuries kept him to only 25 games. The following year, 1971-72, Wall was sent back to his first team, the Detroit Red Wings, as part of a package for Carl Brewer. He played in 45 games for the Wings to round out his NHL career.

That proved to be the end of Wall's NHL career only because he opted to sign with the rebel league WHA for the remaining 4 years of his career. The first two years were with the Alberta/Edmonton Oilers, and the last two back in the Californian sunshine with the San Diego Mariners.