Caps winger benefits from time in the AHL
The turning point for new Capitals winger Joel Ward came during his final year in the American Hockey League with the Houston Aeros.
Playing for former NHL coach Kevin Constantine in 2007-08, Ward learned how to see the game in a different way. He wasn’t just playing it anymore. He finally understood how to break a game down into smaller parts like where he should be on the ice at a given moment and how to embrace a given role.
“I kind of took that [year] as a learning curve for me and something I’m thankful for,” Ward said at his introductory news conference on Tuesday. “It got me a job in Nashville at the time and here I am today.”
Ward’s path to pro hockey was not conventional. He played four years of college hockey in Canada, earning a B.A. in sociology from the University of Prince Edward Island. He wasn’t drafted in 2005 and signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Wild instead. Ward managed 11 games in the NHL in 2006-07, but for three years was primarily an AHL player. His talks with Constantine that final year in Houston prepared him to take the next step when the Nashville Predators offered him an opportunity.
He’s made the most of it. Ward had 40 goals and 59 assists in three years with Nashville and was brilliant in last spring’s postseason with seven goals and six assists in 12 games. Don’t let that small sample size fool you, though. Ward clearly has the ability to shake off the pressure of the postseason. But he seems likely to play right wing on the third line for Washington as part of a defensive-minded unit that should make the Caps more difficult to play against. Few players in the NHL handle that role better and it’s something general manager George McPhee knew his club needed after one too many postseason flameouts.
“It’s no secret that I’m [not] going to go out there and score 50 goals,” Ward said. “But I’m definitely going to go out there and play an honest game and work hard.”
Ward, a late bloomer at 30, grew up in a blue collar section of Toronto, the son of a single mother with two older brothers to keep him in line. Getting a college degree was important. With that task completed, he was free to concentrate on turning himself into a pro. It took some time. But after three solid years with the Predators, he was pursued by as many as 16 NHL teams this offseason before signing a four-year, $12 million contract with the Caps on July 1.
Despite what he describes as a “humble” upbringing, Ward said he still had the dream of playing in the NHL.
“It’s something I always wanted to do,” he said. “I didn’t let nothing stop me. I just took a different route going through it.”
