Timothy John Watters is a retired Canadian ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 defenceman

Defenceman (ice hockey)

Defence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring...

.

Tim Watters was a rarity in the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 (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 and Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...

, 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 season. He served as an assistant coach for the Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

 during the 1996 season, and as head coach for the NCAA Division I Michigan Tech Huskies

Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey

The Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college ice hockey program that represents Michigan Technological University. The Huskies are a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association...

 from 1996–97 – 1999–2000.

Watters currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

, where he works in the commercial real estate

Real estate

In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

 business. He also coaches youth hockey in nearby Tempe.

External links