The Capitals have hired John Walton as their new radio play-by-play broadcaster, the team announced on Tuesday.
Walton, 38, spent the past nine seasons broadcasting for the Hershey Bears, Washington’s American Hockey League affiliate. He assumes the new position of director of radio broadcasting.
Walton replaces longtime broadcaster Steve Kolbe, who applied for the new position, according to sources, before the team decided to go in a different direction. Kolbe was with the Caps for 16 years beginning as a pre-game and post-game studio host in 1995 and taking over for Ron Weber as the play-by-play broadcaster full time in 1997. He broadcast his 1,000th game with Washington on Nov. 11, 2010.
Walton is a Columbus, Ohio native and an alumnus of Miami University. He has broadcast more than 1,000 AHL games. Prior to his time in Hershey, Walton was the radio broadcaster for the then-Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, the Anaheim Ducks’ AHL affiliate from 1997 to 2000. He also served as the public address announcer for the Cincinnati Reds from 1996 to 2002 and was a sports anchor at famed radio station WLW-700 AM.
“Anyone who is broadcasting or coaching or playing hockey we all want to be at the highest level. We All want to be in the NHL,” Walton said. “I had a great run in the American Hockey League. But I grew up watching the NHL. My playing abilities didn’t carry me nearly as far to think about that. But it was definitely something I wished for and hoped for. And I’m thrilled for the chance.”
Walton is just the third radio announcer in franchise history. He follows Kolbe and Weber, who called the team’s games on radio from its first season in 1973-74 until he retired 23 years later. Weber was presented with the Foster Hewitt Award in 2010 – an honor bestowed by the Hockey Hall of Fame and the NHL Broadcasters Association.
Walton is already familiar with many of the players in Washington. He called their games in Hershey, after all, including Calder Cup championships in 2006, 2009 and 2010. Current Caps players on those Bears teams include Brooks Laich, Matt Hendricks, Karl Alzner, John Carlson, Jay Beagle, Mike Green and Jeff Schultz. Walton also spent 2 ½ years with Caps coach Bruce Boudreau, who coached Hershey from 2005-06 until taking over in Washington on Nov. 22, 2007. Walton received a congratulatory call from Boudreau at 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
“I don’t think there’s anything that I really change,” Walton said. “Obviously the caliber of play is the best in the world. To have the opportunity to be there in the biggest and best arenas and the biggest and best NHL cities that’s great. And to do it in Washington, where we’ve been affiliated the last six years makes it extra special to me.”
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