Published Friday, 27 January 2012
The Dundonald man began his professional career back in 2003, becoming one of four players from Northern Ireland to sign for their home team.
Nine seasons later, Walton remains as the last of that original four - but is joined on this year's squad by two other locals, Andrew Dickson and Gareth Roberts.
In his nine seasons, Walton has won four championships - the Elite League Title in 2006, the Challenge Cup and Knock Out Cup in 2009 and the Playoff Championship in 2010.
General Manager Todd Kelman paid tribute to the star who started his career playing youth hockey at the Dundonald Ice Bowl.
"It's a great testament to Graeme to have played 500 games for the same team," Kelman said.
"As an organisation, we are very proud of Graeme and what makes this even more special is that our longest-serving player is a home-grown talent.
"When the Giants arrived in 2000, it was a team full of North Americans and nobody ever thought of local ice hockey players getting the opportunity to play for their hometown team - but 12 years later and we have our longest-serving player born and bred in Northern Ireland."
He added: "His success story gives a lot of local players hope that, if they work hard, they will get their opportunity as well."
League leaders the Giants take on the Clan in Braehead on Friday night.