Joel Ward (ice hockey)

Joel Randal Ward (born December 2, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks. He is currently an assistant coach with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Joel Ward
Ward with the San Jose Sharks in April 2016
Born (1980-12-02) December 2, 1980
North York, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 225 lb (102 kg; 16 st 1 lb)
Position Right wing
Shot Right
Played for Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
Washington Capitals
San Jose Sharks
National team  Canada
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2005–2018

Early life

Ward was born in North York, Ontario, to Cecilia, who worked as a nurse, and the late Randal Ward, who worked as an automotive mechanic.[1] Both of his parents emigrated to Canada from Barbados. As a youth, Ward played in the 1994 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from North York.[2] He also has two older brothers who played hockey in their youth.[3]

Ward graduated from Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute in 1998.[4]

Playing career

Amateur

Undrafted, Ward played in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Owen Sound Platers. After completing his four-year junior career and his final year of eligibility with the Platers in 2000–01, Ward linked up with lower tier professional team the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the West Coast Hockey League to end the season. An unsigned free agent to start the 2001–02 season, Ward attended the Detroit Red Wings' training camp on a try-out basis, but was ultimately recruited and played collegiately for the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers of the CIS. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from UPEI in 2006.[5]

Professional
Ward playing for the Predators in 2010

Awarded Rookie of the Year and the Panthers' three-time MVP while earning a degree in Sociology in his four-year collegiate career,[6] Ward was invited to the Minnesota Wild's training camp in 2006. In his first full professional season, he was assigned to the Wild's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Houston Aeros, signing his first professional contract for the entirety of the 2005–06 season.

After impressing Wild management with his work ethic, Ward earned a two-year contract with Minnesota on September 27, 2006.[7] He debuted in 11 NHL games with the Wild during the 2006–07 season, but spent his time primarily with the Aeros, developing into a responsible, two-way player and improving his points totals in each of his three years.

As a free agent, Ward signed a one-year contract with the Nashville Predators on July 15, 2008.[8] He made the opening night roster out of training camp for the 2008–09 season and scored his first NHL goal in his first game as a Predator against the St. Louis Blues on October 10, 2008.[9]

In 2008–09, his first full NHL season, he scored 17 goals in 79 games, and his reliability as a defensive forward, and success as a utility scoring forward earned him a two-year contract extension on July 1, 2009.[10][11]

Ward with the Capitals in March 2013

Ward became an unrestricted free agent after the 2010–11 season and subsequently signed a four-year, $12 million contract with the Washington Capitals on July 1, 2011.[12] On April 25, 2012, Ward scored the game-winning goal in overtime in Game 7 of the first round of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins, advancing Washington to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. However, Ward's fortune would not continue into Washington's series with the New York Rangers. With the series tied at two games apiece, Ward took a high-sticking double minor penalty on Carl Hagelin with 22 seconds remaining in the third period of Game 5, with Washington leading 2–1. Rangers forward Brad Richards tied the game with under ten seconds remaining, and defenceman Marc Staal scored in overtime with the Rangers still on the powerplay as a result of Ward's penalty; the Rangers took a 3–2 series lead. After the Capitals' ultimate elimination in the series, Ward required surgery for a sports hernia.

On November 1, 2013, in his 336th career game, Ward scored his first career hat-trick, coming against the Philadelphia Flyers in a 7–0 Washington victory.[13]

In 2014, Ward was selected to represent Canada at the 2014 IIHF World Championship.[14] He started on the team's checking fourth line, but finished as one of the team's top scorers.[15]

On July 3, 2015, as an unrestricted free agent, Ward signed a three-year, $9.75 million contract with the San Jose Sharks.[16]

As the Sharks prepared to play in the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ward spoke to ESPN, stating that the NHL's first Black player, retired fellow right winger Willie O'Ree, should have his player number 22 retired by the NHL league-wide, just as Jackie Robinson, the first player of colour in Major League Baseball has been honoured—and whom O'Ree had met in person in his own younger years—[17] by having his own player number 42 retired league-wide.[18]

After his contract expired after three seasons, Ward left the Sharks' organization. On September 14, 2018, Ward agreed to attend the Montreal Canadiens' training camp on a professional tryout.[19] However, the Canadiens released Ward from his tryout on September 25.[20]

On April 27, 2020, Ward announced his retirement from professional ice hockey via The Players' Tribune.[21][22]

On June 8, 2020, Ward became an inaugural executive board member of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, whose goal is to address intolerance and racism in hockey.[23]

Ward took his first coaching position on November 23, 2020, as he was hired as an assistant coach for the newly-relocated Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League.[24] On July 12, 2023, Ward was promoted to assistant coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, Henderson's NHL parent club.[25]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1997–98 Owen Sound Platers OHL 47 8 4 12 14 11 1 1 2 5
1998–99 Owen Sound Platers OHL 58 19 16 35 23 16 2 4 6 0
1999–00 Owen Sound Platers OHL 63 23 20 43 51 — — — — —
2000–01 Owen Sound Attack OHL 67 26 36 62 45 5 2 4 6 4
2000–01 Long Beach Ice Dogs WCHL — — — — — 8 0 0 0 0
2001–02 U. of Prince Edward Island CIS 22 13 14 27 16 — — — — —
2002–03 U. of Prince Edward Island CIS 19 11 15 26 24 — — — — —
2003–04 U. of Prince Edward Island CIS 27 14 24 38 42 — — — — —
2004–05 U. of Prince Edward Island CIS 28 16 28 44 42 — — — — —
2005–06 Houston Aeros AHL 66 8 14 22 34 8 4 2 6 4
2006–07 Houston Aeros AHL 64 9 14 23 45 — — — — —
2006–07 Minnesota Wild NHL 11 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2007–08 Houston Aeros AHL 79 21 20 41 47 4 0 2 2 0
2008–09 Nashville Predators NHL 79 17 18 35 29 — — — — —
2009–10 Nashville Predators NHL 71 13 21 34 18 6 2 2 4 2
2010–11 Nashville Predators NHL 80 10 19 29 42 12 7 6 13 6
2011–12 Washington Capitals NHL 73 6 12 18 20 14 1 4 5 6
2012–13 Washington Capitals NHL 39 8 12 20 12 7 1 3 4 6
2013–14 Washington Capitals NHL 82 24 25 49 32 — — — — —
2014–15 Washington Capitals NHL 82 19 15 34 30 14 3 6 9 2
2015–16 San Jose Sharks NHL 79 21 22 43 28 24 7 6 13 16
2016–17 San Jose Sharks NHL 78 10 19 29 30 6 1 3 4 4
2017–18 San Jose Sharks NHL 52 5 7 12 20 — — — — —
NHL totals 726 133 171 304 261 83 22 30 52 42

International
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2014 Canada WC 5th 8 6 3 9 4
Senior totals 8 6 3 9 4

See also

References
  1. Best, Tony (November 18, 2011). "Cool US$12m hockey deal". Nation Newspaper. Archived from the original on November 20, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  2. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  3. Joel Ward (July 25, 2016). "Step by Step". theplayerstribune.com. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  4. "UPEI celebrates four distinguished and inspiring alumni". upei.ca. August 5, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  5. Atkinson, Dave. "UPEI celebrates four distinguished and inspiring alumni," University of Prince Edward Island, Friday, August 5, 2016.
  6. "Right Wing trio adds to NHL's expanding diversity". NHL. February 2, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
  7. "Wild signs RW Joel Ward". Minnesota Wild. September 27, 2006. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  8. "Predators sign Free-Agent forward Joel Ward". Nashville Predators. July 15, 2008. Archived from the original on August 11, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
  9. "Tkachuk nets two power play goals, Blues drop Predators in opener". CBS Sports. October 10, 2008. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
  10. "Steve Sullivan, Joel Ward stay the cours". The Tennessean. July 2, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  11. "Trotz excited to have Ward back in the mix". Nashville Predators. July 1, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  12. "NHL Free Agent Tracker". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
  13. Carrera, Katie (November 1, 2013). "Capitals 7, Flyers 0: Washington fights past Philadelphia, minus Alex Ovechkin". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  14. Carrera, Katie (May 8, 2014). "Alex Ovechkin, Joel Ward, Mikhail Grabovski among nine Caps to play in world championships". Washington Post. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  15. "Joel Ward playing leading role for Canada at world championship". CBC Sports. May 13, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  16. "Ward signs three-year contract with Sharks". NHL. July 3, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  17. Steve Murphy, interviewer with CTV News in Halifax, NS (2007). Willie O'Ree – First Black NHL Player (YouTube). heathernocs. Event occurs at 4:31. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  18. Douglas, William (May 30, 2016). "Joel Ward thinks the NHL should honor Willie O'Ree by retiring his number". colorofhockey.com. The Color of Hockey. Retrieved May 31, 2016. Joel Ward has an idea for the National Hockey League to honor the history and growing impact of black players in the sport: Retire the number 22 Willie O'Ree wore with the Boston Bruins when he became the league's first black player in 1958."I definitely think Willie should be recognized for sure," Ward told ESPN Sunday, the media day before his San Jose Sharks face the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. "It's a no-brainer. Without Willie, it would be tough for me to be sitting here today. I definitely think Willie should be a big part of this."
  19. Braverman, Dan. "Canadiens invite Joel Ward to training camp". Montreal Canadiens. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  20. "Canadiens release four players from training camp". Montreal Canadiens. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  21. Ward, Joel (April 27, 2020). "726". The Players' Tribune. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  22. Douglas, William (April 27, 2020). "Ward retires from NHL after 11 seasons". NHL.com. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  23. "Hockey Diversity Alliance formed by seven current, former NHL players". nhl.com. June 8, 2020.
  24. Gotz, Ben (November 23, 2020). "Henderson Silver Knights add Joel Ward to staff". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  25. "Vegas Golden Knights Announce Updates to Coaching Staff". NHL.com. July 12, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
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