Weiland is not exactly one of the most common names in the world. It's a Dutch word, meaning "meadowland." (Pronounced with a long i sound, as in WIGH-land.) So, how did Wally get it for his name?

Back in the 20's and 30's one of Wally's father's favorite players in the National Hockey League was Ralph "Cooney" Weiland. He played for the Minneapolis Millers (1925-28), Boston Bruins (1928-32, and 1935-39), Ottawa Senators (1932-33), and Detroit Red Wings (1933-35). He led the Bruins to two Stanley Cup championships in 1929 and 1939, and was the NHL's leading scorer in 1930 with 73 points, leading the NHL in goal scoring and shattering Howie Morenz's single-season record of 51 points. He also coached the Boston Bruins in the 1939-40, and 1940-41 seasons, winning the Stanley Cup in the '41 season.

After his NHL playing and coaching career, Ralph "Cooney" Weiland also had a very successful coaching career at Harvard University, winning the Spencer Penrose Award in 1955 as University Division Coach of the Year. In 1971 he was elected to the Hockey Hall Of Fame. And in 1972 he won the Lester Patrick Award for Outstanding contributions to American hockey. He died in 1985.

Though we don't know for sure, since Wally's family lived in Ferndale, a suburb of Detroit, we suspect it was while Weiland played on the Red Wings that he was a Jack Hollis (Wally's dad) favorite. Anyway, when Wally was born he was christened Weiland, after the hockey Hall-of-Famer.

It was in much the same pattern that Wally's sister, Carole, was named after one of her mom's favorite actresses, Carole Lombard. And in the same way we chose the name Shannon for our daughter after one of our favorite U.S. Olympic athletes, gymnast Shannon Miller.

You can click here and here to go to web pages to learn more about Ralph "Cooney" Weiland.

By the way, we have never seen "Weiland" as a first name except in Wally's case. If you ever hear of anyone else with it as a first name, please let us know.

And how did Wally become Wally? When he was born his Uncle Rich starting calling him Wiley, a shortening of Weiland. Wally's sister, Carole, just a year-and-a-half older, tried to say "Wiley" and it came out "Wally", and that was that for the rest of his life.

"It is March, 1971. Harvard University's hockey team has qualified for the NCAA Tournament, then a modest four-school event, before any of us had ever heard the words "Frozen Four" or "bracket expansion." The site that year was the Onondaga County War Memorial Coliseum in Syracuse, N.Y. A few days before the event, a local Boston broadcaster stepped in front of some bright lights and directed a microphone at Harvard's crusty and wily head coach, Ralph "Cooney" Weiland. A Stanley Cup winner with 300-plus college wins under his belt, Weiland was two games from retirement and his penultimate opponent was the University of Minnesota. The reporter led off with what he must have considered an innocent enough opening question about the Crimson's opposition in the semifinals.

"Coach, what do you know about Minnesota?"

Weiland looked into the glare of the lights and with just a trace of a grin said, "Well, it's cold. And they have lots of lakes. So they must have some good players."

End of interview."