"I've been pretty patient over the last six years," Derrick Walser is being quoted on the Red Deer Rebels' website. "I wanted to make sure I was ready to do it because you don't get these jobs every day. You're going to get one crack at it and I wanted to make sure I was ready."
During his active career, Walser played for the SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers from 2011 to 2015. In these four years, he was also part of Team Canada at the Spengler Cup, which he won in 2012.