BIRTHPLACE: Leonidas, Minn.
BORN: December 8, 1927
TEAMS/ASSOCIATIONS: University of Michigan
Wally Grant got his start in hockey on the Iron Range of northeastern Minnesota. Best known for the high school and collegiate championships, he went on to star at both Eveleth High School (Minn.), and later at the University of Michigan.
Grant was a participant in the first ever Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament in 1945, and played a major role in the Golden Bears winning the inaugural title under legendary coach and fellow enshrinee Cliff Thompson. Trailing Thief River Falls in the championship game, Grant scored the Bears’ third and fourth goals as Eveleth came back to win 4-3. Playing on a line with Pat Finnigan and Neil Celley, Grant established a high school playoff record with 13 points. That record remained one of the top five performances in state history for more than four decades.
From Eveleth, Grant moved on to the University of Michigan, where his team participated in the first NCAA Ice Hockey Championship, in 1948. Coached by Vic Heyliger, the Wolverines defeated Dartmouth 8-4 in the title game to claim the first ever title. Grant also starred as a member of Michigan’s infamous “G” line, which included Wally Gacek and Ted Greer. Each of the three linemates scored a third-period goal in Michigan’s championship win. He played four seasons for Michigan between 1946 and 1950, participating in the NCAA tournament in three of those seasons. He took one season off after his freshman year to serve in the U.S. Military.
He was never a big player, but made up for it with speed and quickness. “I was 5’8 and 165 pounds, but I was fast enough to get around some of those defensemen,” he said. “That was my advantage.”
Grant went on to work for General Motors in Michigan for 37 years before finally retiring in the late 1980s. Still following his alma mater, Grant served as vice president of the Dekers Blue Line Club — a Michigan hockey booster organization, as well as being a part of the Graduate “M” Club and Michigan’s Victors Club. He and wife Ellen raised three children in the Ann Arbor area.