Mitch Wahl (born January 22, 1990) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player with

Dresdner Eislöwen The Dresdner Eislöwen are a professional ice hockey team based in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. They currently play in DEL2, the second level of ice hockey in Germany. Prior to the 2013–14 season they played in the 2nd Bundesliga (ice hockey), 2nd ...

in Germany's second-tier

DEL2 DEL2 (also known as DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany, below the '' Deutsche Eishockey Liga'' (DEL) and ahead of the '' Oberliga''. Founded in 2013 to replace the defunct '' 2nd Bundesliga'', DEL2 is administered by ESBG, u ...

. He was selected in the second round (48th overall) of the

2008 NHL Entry Draft The 2008 NHL Entry Draft was the 46th NHL Entry Draft. It was hosted by the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, on June 20–21, 2008. The Senators were originally awarded the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, but because of ...

by the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

. Wahl played four years of

junior hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

with the

Spokane Chiefs The Spokane Chiefs are a major junior ice hockey team that plays in the Western Hockey League based out of Spokane, Washington. The team plays its home games at the Spokane Arena. Their uniforms are similar to those of the NHL's Montreal Canadi ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL), winning the WHL championship and

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

in 2008. He was named a First Team All-Star by the WHL in 2009–10 before turning professional at the conclusion of his junior season. He was a member of the American junior team at the

2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''2009 WJHC''), was the 33rd edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship and was hosted in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Games were held at the Ottawa Civic Centre and Scotiabank Place. The tourn ...

Personal

Wahl grew up in

Seal Beach, California Seal Beach is a coastal city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,242, up from 24,168 at the 2010 census. Seal Beach is located in the westernmost corner of Orange County. To the northwest ...

. His parents, Mitch Sr. and Michelle, knew little about hockey but enrolled him in the sport after he showed an aptitude for skating during a birthday party for his elder sister. He began playing at the age of six, and credits the arrival of

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

with the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

for creating opportunities for himself and other players in southern California. Wahl is also an avid surfer.

Playing career

Wahl played minor hockey with the California Wave, and caught the attention of WHL scouts while playing in tournaments in Vancouver, Kamloops and Medicine Hat. He was selected in the first round, fourth overall, by the

in the 2005 WHL Bantam Draft. After appearing in two games with the Chiefs in 2005–06, Wahl joined the team full-time in 2006–07, scoring 16 goals and 48 points in 69 games. He improved to 73 points in 2007–08, and added 14 points in 21 playoff games as the Chiefs won the

Ed Chynoweth Cup The Ed Chynoweth Cup is an ice hockey club championship trophy awarded to the playoff champion of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Originally called the President's Cup when the league was founded in 1966, the trophy was renamed in 2007 to honou ...

as league champions. At the

2008 Memorial Cup The 2008 Memorial Cup was played in May 2008 in Kitchener, Ontario at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex, Memorial Auditorium. It was the 90th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey cham ...

tournament, Wahl scored six points in four games to help the Chiefs win the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...

(CHL) championship. Wahl's success attracted the attention of the

, who selected him with their second pick, 48th overall, at the

. He also joined the

United States men's national junior ice hockey team The United States men's national junior ice hockey team represents the United States at the IIHF World U20 Championship. The team has won 5 world junior championships (2004, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2021). Many talented NHL prospects, such as John Car ...

for the

, scoring four points for the fifth place Americans. He finished the 2008–09 WHL season with 32 goals and 63 points. In 2009–10, he finished sixth in league scoring with 96 points and was named a First Team All-Star by the WHL. He ended his WHL career in sixth place all-time in scoring for the Chiefs with 284 points and third all-time in assists with 186. The team also named him one of the top 25 players in their first 25 seasons. Upon the conclusion of his WHL season, Wahl joined the Flames's AHL affiliate, the

Abbotsford Heat The Abbotsford Heat were a professional ice hockey team that played five seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) between 2009 and 2014. The team was based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, and played its home games at the 7,046-seat A ...

. He played in four regular season games, scoring a goal and three assists, and remained with the team into the 2010

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

playoffs. He was traded to the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

on February 25, 2013 for Mike Testwuide. The Flyers did not tender him a qualifying offer in the off-season, making him an unrestricted free agent. On August 5, 2013, Wahl signed his first European contract as a free agent, agreeing to a one-year deal with Austrian club,

EC Red Bull Salzburg EC Red Bull Salzburg is a professional ice hockey team based in Salzburg, Austria, that currently plays in the ICE Hockey League. The club play their home games at the Eisarena Salzburg. History The history of ice hockey in Salzburg at the highe ...

of the

EBEL Ebel is a Swiss luxury watch company that was founded in 1911 at La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. History Ebel was established in 1911 by Eugène Blum and his wife, Alice (née Lévy). The brand name originates from th ...

. On June 25, 2014, Wahl returned to North America, signing a one-year contract with the

Florida Everblades The Florida Everblades are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Estero, Florida, in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area. They play in the ECHL and are affiliated with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (N ...

in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

. After producing 59 points in 53 games with the Everblades in the 2014–15 season, Wahl returned to Europe to sign a one-year contract with Swedish second division club, IK Oskarshamn of the Allsvenskan on July 1, 2015. Wahl started the 2019–20 season with

HC '05 Banská Bystrica Hockey Club '05 Banská Bystrica is a professional Slovak ice hockey club based in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. They won 3 times Slovakian hockey league and 4 times Slovak 1. Liga, second–level ice hockey league in Slovakia. The team is nickna ...

in Slovakia's top-tier

Slovak Extraliga The Tipos Extraliga (Slovak Extraliga) is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. From the 2018–19 season to the 2020–21 season, the league included one or two teams from Hungary. In 2009, it was ranked by the IIHF as the fifth stro ...

, but signed a mid-season contract with the

Fischtown Pinguins The Fischtown Pinguins, also known as REV Bremerhaven, are a professional ice hockey team based in Bremerhaven, Germany. From 2004 to 2016 the team played at the second level of ice hockey in Germany, until the 2012–13 season the 2nd Bundesliga ...

in Germany's top-tier

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes th ...

. The Pinguins immediately sent him down to

Eispiraten Crimmitschau ETC Crimmitschau, also known as Eispiraten Crimmitschau, is an ice hockey team in Crimmitschau, Germany. They currently play in DEL2 DEL2 (also known as DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany, below the '' Deutsche Eishockey L ...

, their

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

in the

, where he played out the season. Wahl was a semi-regular in the lineup of the Pinguins for the

2020–21 DEL season The 2020–21 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season was the 27th season since the founding of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league announced 13 November 2020 as the start date, which was later postponed to a later date. O ...

, then started the

2021–22 DEL season The 2021–22 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season was the 28th season since the founding of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. It started on 9 September 2021 and ended on 4 May 2022. The season was contested by 15 teams, as the 2020–21 DEL2 champion SC B ...

with the team before being sent down to the

EC Kassel Huskies The EC Kassel Huskies are a professional ice hockey club based in Kassel, Hessen, Germany. The club currently competes in DEL2, the second level of ice hockey in Germany. The Huskies were founded in 1977 and have competed in the top five levels o ...

of the DEL2. On May 27, 2022, Wahl continued his German journeyman career, agreeing to a one-year contract with the

Schwenninger Wild Wings The Schwenninger Wild Wings are a professional German ice hockey team from Schwenningen am Neckar in Baden-Wuerttemberg that was founded on 31 July 1904 and currently plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The greatest success of the associ ...

for the 2022-23 DEL season. Wahl appeared in 22 games of the 58-game Wild Wings season, collecting 1 goals and 6 points. Unable to help the team advance to the post-season, it was announced Wahl's contract would not be renewed. Wahl signed with

of the

for the 2023–24 season, appearing in 6 games of the team's 52-game regular season. Wahl had already seen limited ice time when, on December 30, 2023, he injured his hand during an on-ice altercation against

EV Landshut EV Landshut, also known as EVL Landshut Eishockey and formerly known as the Landshut Cannibals, are a professional ice hockey team based in Landshut, Bavaria, Germany. They currently play in Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2, the second level of ice hoc ...

, earning a two-game suspension; with surgery on the hand, he was unable to play for most of the remainder of the season. At some point, Wahl became a German citizen, with the Dresdner Eislöwen website showing him with a dual German-American nationality.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wahl, Mitch 1990 births Living people Abbotsford Heat players Adirondack Phantoms players American expatriate ice hockey players in Austria American men's ice hockey centers HC '05 Banská Bystrica players Calgary Flames draft picks ETC Crimmitschau players Fischtown Pinguins players Florida Everblades players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players Ice hockey players from California Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) players HC TWK Innsbruck players EC KAC players Kassel Huskies players IK Oskarshamn players People from Seal Beach, California Sportspeople from Orange County, California EC Red Bull Salzburg players Schwenninger Wild Wings players Spokane Chiefs players Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) players Utica Comets players Västerviks IK players American expatriate ice hockey players in Canada American expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden American expatriate ice hockey players in Slovakia American expatriate ice hockey players in Finland American expatriate ice hockey players in Germany