Christian Wolanin: Following in his Father’s Footsteps

Being a son of a professional athlete has its positives and negatives. On one hand, you have a role model who has achieved the goal of being a professional athlete and on the flip side, the pressure to follow in your father or mother’s footsteps can be daunting.

For Christian Wolanin, who will be entering his second season with the Gamblers, following in his father’s footsteps is something that he dreams of doing. The senior Wolanin, Craig, was the third overall pick of the New Jersey Devils in 1985. Craig posted 40 goals and 133 assists in 695 career games with the Devils, Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lighting and Toronto Maple Leafs. His greatest accomplishment came in 1996 when as a member of the Avalanche he won hockey’s holy grail, the Stanley Cup.  

Craig also played internationally representing Team USA in 1991 and 1994 in the Canada Cup and the World Ice Hockey Championships.

A highly decorated scorer with the Little Caesars midget program, Christian was asked to make the transition from forward to defense at the USHL level. Under the guidance of assistant coach David Carle, the Rochester, Michigan native became a reliable defenseman on the Gamblers blue line. 

“I played forward all the way up through youth hockey. It was hard moving positions especially while having to adjust to higher speed and higher skilled players,” said Wolanin. “It was like basically starting everything over from scratch. Coach Carle did a great job teaching and being patient with me.”

While Christian had to make the jump from forward to defenseman he is hoping to build on his first year in Green Bay and have an even better year in 2013-2014.

“My first year was a struggle being a rookie and all the duties that come along with that,” said Wolanin. Once I got adjusted to the USHL and Green Bay everything seemed to go more smoothly, I enjoyed myself a lot more once I got comfortable.”

By learning from some of his older teammates, Christian is hoping that he can take that knowledge from his peers to help lead the Gamblers back to the Clark Cup Finals.

“Everything I learned last year will help tremendously. Just being able to practice and learn from the older guys will help going into this year. It should be a good year.”

While having a father who is a former NHL player may have its perks, Christian said he did not take advantage to its fullest extent. “While most of his friends and teammates thought it was cool to have an NHL player in their presence, for Christian it was just “Dad.”

“I was raised to treat pro athletes just like normal people,” said Wolanin. “There was certain times when it was cool to tell people my dad lived the dream that every hockey player inspires to do but otherwise not much was said.”

With a professional as a father it can be tough to walk in his footsteps. Furthermore, the senior Wolanin never pushed his son to take up the sport of hockey.

 “My father has never put any pressure on me to play the game, and has always supported me and everything I do,” said Wolanin. He’s my role model and everything I do on and off the ice is because of him.”

Christian, who tallied his fist USHL goal in the playoffs last year against the Youngstown Phantoms, likes to get advice from his Dad at certain times, but also has faith in his coaches.

“When my Dad comes to the games he will critique and ask what the coaches are saying and try to find a happy medium between the two,” said Wolanin. “For the most part he just says to listen to my coaches.”

Craig may be coaching from afar now, but when Christian was growing up he was on the job the day after he retired until Christian was around 14 years old.

“He was always known as coach Wolanin to all my friends,” said Wolanin. “He got into coaching right when he retired and made me out to be the player that I am today.”

Since Craig retired from the NHL when Christian was four years old, he did not get to attend many games but has been to alumni games to watch his father and some of his former teammates play.

“I did not go to his games regularly because I was pretty young when he was in the NHL. I went to a few with my Mom but really don’t remember much,” stated Wolanin. “Once I got a little older I got to go to some of his alumni games which were a lot of fun.”

As Christian and his teammates prepare for the 2013-2014 season he could not be more excited to play in front of the fans in Green Bay.

“It was an experience unlike anything else playing at the Resch Center, it was impossible not to be amped up and excited when you walk into the building,” said Wolanin. “You can talk to any guy on the team and they will say the same thing. It’s an honor to play here and we’re excited about the season.” 

Christian and Craig have a strong father-son relationship and Christian admires everything his father has done both on and off the ice. He now looks forward to his second season in the USHL where he hopes to lead the Gamblers to a championship.

And this season he hopes to make his own mark on the ice.