Terrence Wallin stood on the home team\u2019s bench at the PPL Center for warmups in early September.<\/p>\n
He looked around the arena in Allentown, the home of Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, and saw the Flyers logo everywhere. It was on the jerseys that the rookies were wearing as they prepared to play their New York Rangers counterparts. It was on the clothing that fans donned in the crowd.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when it started to sink in for Wallin. In a few short weeks, the 33-year-old would stand on that same bench as the new assistant coach for the Phantoms, playing a key role in the Flyers\u2019 rebuild.<\/p>\n
But then he peered across the rink and saw his 2-year-old son. For Terrence, it was an unforgettable moment, but not just because his son, who loves the rink, was there. Little Wes Wallin was wearing a Flyers jersey. Terrence\u2019s Flyers jersey. The same one he wore when he was 4 years old growing up in Yardley.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Flyers have always kind of been in the background of who I am as a person growing up here,\u201d Wallin said, sitting at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees during rookie camp. <\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up a Flyers fan, you dream of being a part of it somehow,\u201d he added. \u201cObviously, when you\u2019re young, you hope it\u2019s as a player, but to get the opportunity to do it now as a coach is something that I don\u2019t take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Terrence Wallin, he is home.<\/p>\n
\u00bb READ MORE: Flyers top 20 prospects: Porter Martone is No. 1, but where do Alex Bump and Jett Luchanko rank?<\/a><\/p>\n Love and Memories<\/p>\n Chris Barcless\u2019 excitement poured through the phone even via text. The hockey director at the Ice Land Skating Center in Hamilton Township, N.J., was looking forward to speaking about one of his favorite players across his 31 years with the Mercer Chiefs organization.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved coaching him [and] he loved to play,\u201d said Barcless, who is coaching the 2013 and 2014-born players this season for the Chiefs, over the phone. \u201cAt a young age, not only was [Wallin] one of the best kids, but he absolutely loved to play. [He was the] first guy on the ice, last guy off the ice type of player, eager to learn, listen, real coachable, worked hard, and we had a lot of success together.\u201d<\/p>\n Raised about 30 miles outside Philly, Wallin\u2019s older brothers, Tim and Chris, played hockey, so it\u2019s no surprise that the youngest of Mike and Alice\u2019s three boys was thrust into it, too. Terrence Wallin joked that he didn\u2019t have much of a choice, but he fell in love with the sport. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Q&A: New Phantoms coach John Snowden discusses philosophies, his impressions of Alex Bump and Jett Luchanko, and more<\/a><\/p>\n Wallin skated for Pennsbury at a young age before switching to Mercer around the age of 10. He spent his childhood playing hockey all over New Jersey and Pennsylvania, even hitting the ice in Voorhees. <\/p>\n Skilled offensively, he was also known as a responsible 200-foot player. His strong work ethic and never-quit attitude stood out to Barcless, specifically during a championship game for the Atlantic Youth Hockey League. With a minute or two to go, and Mercer up by one, Wallin was one of the team\u2019s two forwards on the ice during a six-on-four.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first minute, they killed the penalty. They\u2019re dead tired, and they can\u2019t breathe. There\u2019s a whistle and the other coach changes lines, puts their second power play on,\u201d Barcless recalls.<\/p>\n \u201c… I\u2019m like, \u2018Listen, guys, we got one minute to go. I know you\u2019re tired. If you cannot go for the next minute, I\u2019ll use my timeout, because I\u2019m not changing lines. So if you cannot go, we\u2019ll use the timeout. But I strongly urge you to get back out there and just kill the last minute without calling a timeout so their first power play can\u2019t get back on the ice.\u2019 And they did. … We ended up winning the championship that day.\u201d<\/p>\n Before moving to Connecticut to play at The Gunnery (now known as the Frederick Gunn School), the forward brought that same mindset to La Salle College High School. Wallin was so committed to his game, he would often go to La Salle\u2019s practices and then, driving in his hockey gear, head to Jersey to skate with Mercer.<\/p>\n Although he played only two years at La Salle, the school competed in the Flyers Cup twice, winning the Class AAA Flyers Cup and the state championship in 2008. A sophomore on a team loaded with upperclassmen, he played a big role in the Explorers\u2019 success as a playmaker, whether on the wing or at center, while skating on the penalty kill and power play. <\/p>\n \u201cHe was very skilled, and his hockey IQ was off the charts, and his compete level was high,\u201d said Wally Muehlbronner, his coach at La Salle. \u201cSo the three of those things certainly blended together made for a really good hockey player. When he was with me at La Salle, he hadn\u2019t had a growth spurt yet. He\u2019s still not the biggest guy, but back then, he was definitely a little bit smaller. But made up for that with his IQ, his skill level, and his compete level.\u201d<\/p>\n Listed at 6-foot, 204 pounds, Wallin went on to play four years of Division I hockey at UMass-Lowell<\/a>. Across 138 games, he had 16 goals and 34 assists and helped lead the River Hawks to two Hockey East championships. Named Hockey East\u2019s rookie of the week three times, he scored in UMass-Lowell\u2019s 4-2 loss to Union College and Shayne Gostisbehere in the 2012 NCAA regional final.<\/p>\n Between 2015 and 2020, Wallin played as a pro, skating in the Southern Professional Hockey League, ECHL, and AHL. In September 2018, he was acquired by the Maine Mariners of the ECHL in the franchise\u2019s first-ever trade<\/a>.<\/p>\n The guy who pulled the trigger on the deal was current Flyers general manager Danny Bri\u00e8re<\/a>.<\/p>\n I Go Through<\/p>\n The trade began a relationship that has now spanned almost a decade between Bri\u00e8re, Wallin, and the Flyers\u2019 director of player development, Riley Armstrong. In 2018, Bri\u00e8re was the Mariners\u2019 vice president of operations \u2014 i.e., general manager \u2014 and Armstrong was the head coach.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was one of our leaders. He was one of our best players in Maine, and had scored the most goals the year before,\u201d Bri\u00e8re said of Wallin, who tied for the team lead with 23 goals in 2019-20.<\/p>\n But the then-28-year-old Wallin decided he was ready to begin his climb up the coaching ranks.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: \u2018Walk together forever\u2019: Tributes pour in for Bernie Parent during a celebration of his life and legacy<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t want to lose him, and he came to us [to say] that he wanted to get into coaching,\u201d Bri\u00e8re recalled. \u201cSo that showed how much he wanted to get into the coaching side of things that he was willing to leave his career when he was one of the best players in the league, in the ECHL at the time, and played some games in [the AHL] … to get into coaching. So it was a big career move for him, and showed a lot of passion for the coaching side.\u201d<\/p>\n After spending a year working with youth hockey in Maine, he was back with the Mariners as an assistant coach. A year later, he was running the show.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you told me way back that he was going to eventually be a coach, I would say I could see that,\u201d Barcless said. \u201cHe was a sponge. He listened. He played in all aspects for our teams. … His IQ was good. He learned the game. I remember when he first started with me, he was all about offense and skill. But for many years, and sticking with it … he became a really well-rounded hockey player.\u201d<\/p>\n Wallin was behind Maine\u2019s bench for three seasons, leading the squad to its best season in franchise history in his first year (42-27-3). His first two seasons, the Mariners made the postseason, losing in the North Division semifinals, and he finished with a 107-94-15 record.<\/p>\n This past summer, after going through the interview process with new coach John Snowden and Flyers assistant general manager Alyn McCauley, who runs the Phantoms, he was hired as Lehigh Valley\u2019s newest assistant coach. \u201cThey came back to me and said they felt Terrence was the guy for the job, so that made my life a lot easier, knowing that it was him … and obviously I was on board right away,\u201d Bri\u00e8re said.<\/p>\n Of a Revolution<\/p>\n Heading into Thanksgiving, Wallin certainly has a lot to be thankful for. It probably also helps that the Phantoms have the sixth-best record in the AHL (11-5-1-1) and that he\u2019s coaching the next generation of Flyers stars.<\/p>\n