Chris Wagner ’09 Thriving on the Ice with Move to Islanders

3/20/2018

by Hunter Broadbent ’19 and Joshua Mould ’19, #XBCorps

We had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Wagner, a 2009 Xaverian graduate and current New York Islanders center, thanks to Mr. Erikson, Xaverian teacher, coach, and Sports Journalism club moderator, who calls Wagner “a ferocious player” on the ice and a “great kid” off the ice. We would like to extend a special thank you to Chris Wagner for being so generous with his time during a busy point in the NHL season. We wish him all the best as he begins a new chapter in his NHL career.

-Hunter Broadbent ’19 and Joshua Mould ’19

On Tuesday, January 30, Chris Wagner and the Anaheim Ducks stormed into the TD Garden and ended the Boston Bruins’ historic 18-game point streak with a 3-1 victory. This was more than just another win for Wagner. The now-New York Islanders center and 2009 Xaverian graduate played in front of a crowd full of friends and family and registered a team-high six hits that night. Less than a month later, the Islanders acquired Wagner to bolster their team’s depth for the stretch run. As he readies for his next step in the NHL, we took a look back to where it all began.

Wagner, a native of Walpole and older brother of Paul Wagner ’12, another Hawks alumnus and current Babson College defenseman, has made the most of his time in the NHL. He entered the league as a hard-hitter, trying to do anything he could to stay in the majors. He played a pivotal role on the Ducks' offense and the penalty kill, tallying 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists) for the Ducks, while seeing more ice time than ever. Wagner plays a physical game, as he is currently second in the league with 230 hits, but his growth as an all-around player was crucial to the Ducks’ successes in recent years.

In a postgame interview in January, Ducks’ coach Randy Carlyle called Wagner “a hard-working, honest hockey player who keeps people honest around him...he’s done a lot of things that are getting him noticed and we feel real good about what he’s brought to the table.”

For Chris and Paul Wagner, life has always been about hockey. They began by “playing the game all the time” when they were younger. “Whether it be playing mini sticks in the basement, playing the newest NHL PlayStation game, playing down the street at the pond my dad would shovel off, or even watching Paul play at every rink across Massachusetts, we always loved the game and enjoyed playing it with each other,” he said. He noted that having a brother who also shared his love of hockey and his dream of stardom in the sport “really made everything about hockey that much more fun.” Even during his time as a star for Xaverian, Wagner never thought his dream of becoming a professional would become a reality. “I was usually deemed too small or too slow to play in the next level,” he said. “It wasn’t until after I graduated Xaverian, when I was playing for the South Shore Kings, that I got the notion I might play pro one day. I started playing really well and we had NHL scouts at our games all the time because my teammate, Charlie Coyle, was ranked as a top prospect.” Thanks to a great team around him escalating his play, Wagner impressed the scouts enough to enter the radar of NHL teams.

“Although I had already been passed over in my first year of draft eligibility, when the first preliminary draft rankings came out [for the following year] I was ranked as a “B” player, which means that the scouts project you to be drafted in the third to fifth rounds. I immediately ran upstairs and woke my parents up to tell them. Later [in 2010], I was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the fifth round.”

After an impressive two-season stint in Norfolk, the AHL affiliate of the Ducks, Wagner was called up late in the 2014-2015 season. An all-star in Norfolk that year, he had notched 28 points and proved to be a physical force on the ice. In his first abbreviated NHL season, he only played in nine games, but helped lead the Ducks to a 3-2 overtime victory against his hometown Bruins on March 26, leveling four hits in the win. The following season was a roller coaster ride from being placed on waivers, spending a few months with the division-rival Colorado Avalanche, back to waivers again, and a return to the Ducks. In the end, his hard work paid off, earning him a two-year contract extension with Anaheim after the 2016 season.

As a young player in the Ducks organization, Wagner told us that Ryan Getzlaf, a well-respected veteran star in the league, was a great mentor and showed a real interest in the progress and status of all of the team’s players. He was “really down to earth and humble” about his status as a team captain. “It doesn’t matter if you are a first liner or a fourth liner - he will still ask what’s going on with you personally, and that is really rare for an all-star, gold medal, and Stanley Cup winner. Having a leader who is humble but gets and deserves the respect of his peers is special.”

Last season, the Ducks enjoyed a playoff run that took them to the Western Conference finals. Outside of his NHL debut, Wagner said this was “undoubtedly the most exciting time of my professional career...There is absolutely nothing like playing in the NHL playoffs - nothing like the amount of adrenaline you have going during each game, along with the energy in the crowd, and the pace of the game.” They didn’t advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, but Wagner realizes that “the experience was incredible,” since “some guys play fifteen years at the NHL level and many don’t even make it past the first round of the playoffs.” Now as an Islander, Wagner looks forward to new opportunities for success.

Wagner credits the relationships formed in his years at Xaverian for shaping him into the person and player he is today. He says that his parents stressed the importance of the Christian values that were taught at Xaverian, and he is extremely thankful for his Xaverian experience, both in and out of the classroom. He emphasized that the most important lesson he learned at Xaverian might sound simple, but it was “to work as hard as you possibly can.” It’s become the foundation of everything he does. “From the classroom to the rink, nothing I have really ever achieved has been given, but through hard work and some failures along the way, I have gotten to where I am today.”

When it comes to friendships at Xaverian, Wagner says, “They really do last. It is not a cliche.” Joe Young ’08, a Hawks teammate who took Wagner under his wing when he was a nervous freshman, emerged as his best friend. In addition, he says Mark MacDonald ’09, Jay Lee ’08, and Drew Holden ’08 have stayed close to him since graduation. Holden, the Hawks’ equipment manager at the time, still golfs with Wagner often.

In addition to these friendships, Wagner’s relationship with his brother Paul holds strong with their common bond of hockey. “He was always my biggest fan and still is, and I will always be his biggest fan, no matter what he does after he graduates from Babson this year.”

Wagner also has praise for his Xaverian Hockey Coach, Dave Spinale, for being a great mentor and giving him a chance to play JV as a freshman. “I still remember when Coach Spinale told me I was going to play against my hometown Walpole Rebels that year and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for days,” Wagner said. He has developed a great relationship with his coach over the last few years and says, “I can’t thank him enough for the hard work he put into coaching and still does.”

The standout memories of his Xaverian career go back, Wagner said, to when the Hawks beat Needham in a showdown game to advance to play Hingham in the Super Eight for the first time in school history. “During those two weeks, it felt like the whole school came out to support us.” Even as the seventh seed taking on second-seeded Hingham, the Hawks used their hearts and gritty play to dominate the first period and win the game 3-1.

Wagner offered Xaverian hockey players some friendly words of encouragement. “Enjoy every second you have with your teammates and coaches,” he said. “It goes by so fast and you will never experience anything like high school hockey again. I still talk to and hang out with plenty of the guys I played with over ten years ago and we laugh at the same stories over and over again. So enjoy it while you can and leave everything you have on the ice when you are playing.” He ended the interview with an emphatic, “Go Hawks!”

***UPDATE SINCE POSTING - 7/2/2018*** Chris has been signed by the Boston Bruins in a two-year, $2.5 million deal. Congratulations, Chris!

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Chris Wagner ’09 Thriving on the Ice with Move to Islanders

Xaverian Brothers High School