Johnny Walker was the first star to emerge from the Arizona State Sun Devils hockey program.
He was already making waves when Joey Daccord and Brinson Pasichnuk became full fledged stars, and he’d been at it for four years before Josh Doan ever suited up in Tempe.
The Phoenix native arrived in the school’s third season as an NCAA Division I program and promptly set a school record for goals in a season with 17. In 2018-2019, he took that a step further by scoring 23 goals which still stands as the school’s all-time record for goals in a season.
Walker finished his NCAA career with 70 goals (first all-time) and 53 assists (second all-time) for 123 points (first all-time) in 139 games (third all-time). He’s also fifth all-time in penalty minutes (140 PIMS).
The local boy turned hockey sensation made a sizable mark on the Sun Devils hockey team. His impact embodied every bit of the school’s mantra “Be The Tradition”.
Walker wearing this sweater in the 2019-2020 season.
Arizona State introduced their black alternate jerseys in December of 2018. At the time the black jerseys were the only alternate the school wore, however that would quickly change in the ensuing months.
They were worn sparingly in most seasons as the number of jerseys utilized by the program continued to increase.
The black alternates were worn in 18 games across four seasons. 2018-2019 (5 games), 2019-2020 (6 games), 2020-2021 (4 games), and 2021-2022 (3 games).
ASU issues just one jersey of each style to each player, so Walker wore this one in all four seasons it was in the rotation. It is photomatched to the 2018-2019 season and has evidence of the captain’s “C” being removed prior to the 2021-2022 season (and presumably the alternate captain’s “A” the season before that).
Johnny Walker wore this sweater in all 18 games the set was worn across those four years; he scored a total of 6 goals and 7 assists for 13 points in those 18 games.
The wear on Walker’s jersey is fairly light and most of it is concentrated in the sleeves. Having looked at four or five of his gamers now that seems to be fairly consistent.
Both sleeves show several board burns and near burn holes can be found. There is also one stick mark in the gold band around the elbow. The sleeve number on the left sleeve has the white backing fabric fraying making it look like the number is loose in that spot. This can be seen in game photos of Walker from the very first game of the first season of the set.
There is some pilling on the right side of the crest and a loose thread on the pitchfork. The back of Johnny Walker’s gamer has a large cut just above the band around the waist on the lower left.
