The Olympic silver medalist and former Gophers defense man is remembered as a fast, intelligent hockey player and a man of great integrity.

Wally and I knew each other while he played for the Bad Toelz second German Hockey league. To those years I knew him I enjoyed learning about hockey and how some of the players thought.
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It was with great sorrow that I've learned that Wally Olds has passed away at his home in Minnesota on January 11, 2009. I met Wally and his wife Beth in Bad Toelz (Germany) in 1979, when he played there for two seasons. I was assigned shooting some publicity shots for the team, and I had heard about this American Defenseman who was playing for the hockey team; I had also heard that same player had once played for the 1972 Olympic Hockey Team winning a silver medal. As I started to photograph each player I got to talking with Wally... we became very good friends. The next season, I remember watching the 1980 Olympics final game, or the so-called "Miracle on Ice!" We watched it on my TV live in my living room and celebrated the Americans beating the Russian team winning the gold medal. I had no idea that Olds was the expert he was...but I remember him saying if they can hold on, upset their play then we will win. Then the Americans did win. Little did I know then how exact his words were. In those two seasons, and during that time we were both foreigners living in Bad Toelz on the "Economy" and we shared a lot. I became good friends with Wally and later with Beth his wife. The funniest moment was when I was over at their apartment, the manager wanted cream in his coffee. Beth didn't have any cream, but winked at me and poured some of her saved breast milk into the coffee and handed it to the Manager. He drank it and we both laughed... More recently, while reviewing some shots of Olds playing, and since I hadn’t seen or heard from him in over 30 years, *(since 1980), so I goggled his name, only to hear the sad news.... When I read about and found out about his passing I just wished I would had known that. I was up at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis, in October and I could have said hello as I missed an genuine opportunity! I am sorry I missed the chance to say hello to an old friend. An old friend, that was a terrific player and athlete. --I will never forget the times he would slide forward and make one of his special goals, something for a defense man unheard of in the second German Ice Hockey League. I think I still owe him for his broken video camera. (It fell over as I used to film his games). I wish Beth and her son and their daughter all the best.. Pictured above with his two foreign teammates,(L) Olds managed to get the team above the last season, and forward the team in standings in the league during these two seasons. As I heard about his which past included winning a Silver medal at 1972 Japan Olympics and his career highs, as well as him hosting a mired of talents including coaching and held a degree in Electrical Engineering . Large in stature, he saved me several times from minor fights while bar hopping while in Germany. At six foot, two inches, (1.88) and 200 lbs. (91 kg.), Wally Olds certainly was the right size for a defenseman. He played that position at every level of hockey, starting with the University of Minnesota, where he made all-western All-America in 1970. After graduation in 1971 he spent a year with the U.S. National team during which time he played in the Olympics. Olds was signed by the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL and later the Chicago Cougars of the WHA. However he never played hockey in either major league. Instead he bounced around the minors with such teams as the Long Island Ducks, the New York Raiders, and the Oklahoma City Blazers. His best year in pro hockey was probably 1975 when, as a member of the Hampton Gulls, he was voted co-MVP of the Southern Hockey League. After leaving pro hockey Olds played with the 1977 and 1979 U.S. National teams at the World Championships. I met Wally in Bad Toelz while he played there.
It was with great sorrow that I've learned that Wally Olds has passed ...
Wally Olds photo
 
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