Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
While the Wagner family may be best known in Walpole for their success as adolescents in Little League baseball (2006 Miracle Padres, never forget), it is in the Wagner family blood to excel in athletics and more specifically in recent years, the game of hockey.
The common tale of a young boy growing up and playing ice hockey on the frozen ponds of New England and making it all the way to the NHL is, while very special, nothing new around these parts. In recent years, the Bay State has pumped out premiere NHL talent such as Keith Yandle (Milton), Brian Boyle (Hingham/St. Sebastian’s), Jack Eichel (Chelmsford), and Jeremy Roenick (Thayer), amongst many others.
Few, however, have taken the route traveled by Walpole’s Chris Wagner. By way of Xaverian, the South Shore Kings (EJHL), and Colgate University, Wagner worked his way to a fifth round selection (122 overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Anaheim Ducks.
Unlike many of the Massachusetts-born hockey players that have gone on to succeed at the professional level, Chris Wagner has been able to do it with more than just pure skill.
Wagner was quick to make a name for himself as a hard-hitting power forward while also possessing a slick scoring touch as a member of the Norfolk Admirals, the AHL affiliate of the Ducks at the time. Wagner notched 28 points in back to back seasons with Norfolk in 2013-2014 and in 2014-2015. The difference? It took Wagner 76 games to notch the 28-point total in 2013-2014 and just 48 games to accomplish the feat in 2014-2015. Simply put: Wags was improving at an extremely high level, and the Ducks scouts and player development personnel were taking notice, as was then-head coach of the Ducks, Bruce Boudreau.
Wagner’s efforts throughout his 48 games with the Admirals in 2014-2015 earned him a spot in the 2015 AHL All-Star Game, and eventually got him called up to play for the Ducks towards the final stretch run of the 2014-2015 NHL regular season. Wagner played in nine games for the Ducks in March and April of 2015, but none were more special than his return to Boston to face the Bruins at TD Garden on March 26 of 2015. In that game, Wagner got more than seven minutes of ice time and utilized his hard-hitting mentality, laying four total hits out on the night to players such as Chris Kelly and Milan Lucic, all while the Ducks pulled out a 3-2 victory in overtime.
On March 29 of 2015, three days after Wagner’s return to Boston, Chris again found himself in the lineup for Anaheim’s game against the Devils in New Jersey. Wagner again showed his physicality by laying a punishing hit on New Jersey’s Jon Merrill where he sent the Devil defenseman flying over the boards and into the camera well. The hit made highlight reels everywhere.
In a preseason game against the arch rival Los Angeles Kings in September of the following season, Wagner delivered a devastating hit to well-known power forward and enforcer, Milan Lucic, who had been recently acquired from Boston via an offseason trade. The hit sent Lucic crashing into the boards along the benches and sparked a brief little get-together by the two teams at center ice. Again, the hit found its way onto many highlight reels all across North America; Lucic is arguably one of the most hated players in the league, and people loved seeing a player of his caliber get taken down so hard.
After a stint with Anaheim’s new AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, Wagner was placed on waivers by the Ducks and picked up by the Colorado Avalanche in November of 2015. Under then-head coach Patrick Roy, Wagner was moved around from line to line and played in 26 games for the Avs. Wagner scored his first NHL goal on November 25 in a 5-3 loss at home to the Ottawa Senators and ended up tallying three more goals with Colorado, including one at Madison Square Garden against “the King,” Henrik Lundqvist.
After being placed on waivers by Colorado, Wagner found his way back to Southern California after the Ducks reclaimed him in February of 2016. Wagner played in six games with the Ducks following his return and tallied two assists with a two +/-.
On April 1 of 2016, Wagner was rewarded for his hard work and physicality by inking a two-year contract extension to remain with the Ducks through the 2017-2018 season. There is no doubt that Wagner still has a lot of work ahead of him in order to remain a member of the Ducks forward core. However, it goes to show that the franchise is confident in him and feels a player of his body frame and skill set is well-worth the investment in order to help build a team of strong, powerful, and skilled players around the franchise’s center pieces of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler.
While Chris is busy making a name for himself in the NHL, the Wagner family also has another talented athlete making some noise in the hockey world. Chris’s little brother, Paul, or “Little Wags,” is entering his junior season at Babson College (DIII, NEHC) as a defenseman. As a sophomore in 2015-2016, Wagner played in 17 games for the Beavers, recording a goal and three assists.
As mentioned earlier, along with excelling at the game of hockey, Paul Wagner and his father (also named Paul) are local legends in the town of Walpole for their involvement in Walpole’s Little League baseball.
In 2006, Paul’s little league team, the Padres, who were coached by Mr. Wagner, took down the reigning WLL champion Royals as part of a two-game double header sweep on Farhers Day.
The Royals had dominated Walpole Little League for the better part of the previous four seasons, and the Wagner-led Padres were able to put an end to a dynasty that ended up producing collegiate baseball talent such as Johnny Adams (Boston College). Paul Wags and “Little Wags” immediately became well-known figures in Walpole for their efforts in taking down the crowned jewel and evil empire of Walpole Little League.
It’s only fitting that a decade after the “Fathers Day Miracle,” Paul Wagner is still excelling in the sports world. Only now, Paul is wearing a pair of skates and a beaver logo on his chest rather than fielding ground balls with a San Diego ball cap. All the while, Chris is banging bodies with some of the most skilled and rugged hockey players on the planet. Ten years later, and they are still doing it big. The Wagner family is more than just an awesome story, and it is one that the entire town of Walpole should be extremely proud of.
