Timothy John Watters (born July 25, 1959) is a

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former

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 h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

. Tim Watters was a rarity in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL), a physical defenceman who stood under 6 feet tall and under 200 pounds. He played in 2 Olympics and well over 700 NHL games, quietly playing a solid though unspectacular role from 1981 through 1995 with the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

and

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 ...

, two teams that didn't enjoy much success or fanfare. Not having the size to out-muscle opponents, Watters learned to be in perfect position and angled shooters out of harm's way. He read the oncoming rushes very well, and thanklessly cut off passing lanes and blocked shots. He learned to tie up players' sticks and was one of the few modern players to master the hip check. He retired from the NHL as a player after the

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

season. He served as an assistant coach for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

during the 1996 season, and as head coach for the

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Division I

Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Technological University's sports teams are called the Huskies. The Huskies participate in NCAA Division II as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), a member of the Central Collegiate Ski Associatio ...

from 1996–97 to 1999–2000. Watters currently resides in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, where he works in the commercial

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business. He also coaches youth hockey in nearby Tempe.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Head coaching record

† Watters was fired in November and replaced by

Mike Sertich Mike Sertich (born 1947) is an American ice hockey coach. He was the head coach of Minnesota-Duluth from 1983 through to 2000. He continued coaching for several years after resigning before retiring. Career Mike Sertich began his career at Minn ...

Awards and honours

References

External links

* 1959 births Living people Boston Bruins coaches Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey players at the 1980 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1988 Winter Olympics Kamloops Braves players Kamloops Chiefs players Los Angeles Kings players Merritt Centennials players Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey coaches Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey players Olympic ice hockey players for Canada Ice hockey people from Kamloops Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL) players Tulsa Oilers (1964–1984) players Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) draft picks Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans {{Canada-icehockey-defenceman-1950s-stub