Aaron Ward (ice hockey)

Aaron Christian Ward (born January 17, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played more than 600 games over a span of 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Anaheim Ducks. He is a three-time Stanley Cup champion, having won twice with Detroit in 1997 and 1998 and once with Carolina in 2006.

Aaron Ward
Ward pictured during his time with the Boston Bruins
Born (1973-01-17) January 17, 1973
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 208.2 lb (94 kg; 14 st 12 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for Detroit Red Wings
Carolina Hurricanes
ERC Ingolstadt
New York Rangers
Boston Bruins
Anaheim Ducks
NHL Draft 5th overall, 1991
Winnipeg Jets
Playing career 1993–2010

Playing career

Born in Windsor, Ontario, Ward moved with his family to Blackburn Hamlet, Ontario, a suburb of Ottawa, as a youth where he attended Emily Carr Middle School. He played in the 1987 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Gloucester, Ontario.[1]

Ward played junior hockey for the Nepean Raiders of the Central Junior A Hockey League before accepting a scholarship to attend the University of Michigan. After one season playing for the Wolverines ice hockey team, he was drafted fifth overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.

Before his playing days at Michigan were over, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings, signing with the club in 1993. He was then assigned to the Red Wings' affiliate Adirondack Red Wings for the 1993–94 season, where he spent the bulk of the next three seasons. He later made his NHL debut in 1993–94 and scored his first career NHL goal at the Arrowhead Pond on October 8, 1993. Ward became a regular NHLer during the 1996–97 season.

Ward has played over 600 career NHL games and been a member of three Stanley Cup championship teams, two while playing for the Red Wings in 1997 1998 and one with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. In 2006, Ward scored the first goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals to help his team win the Cup. After the 2006 season, Ward became an unrestricted free agent, whereupon he signed with the New York Rangers, joining fellow free agent and 2006 Cup-winning teammate Matt Cullen in New York. Ward's tenure as a Ranger, however, was short-lived, as during the 2006–07 season, among rumours of tension between him and then-Rangers captain Jaromír Jágr, Ward found himself traded to the Boston Bruins in exchange for defenceman Paul Mara. With Boston, Ward added solid defence and much-needed veteran leadership to the team, and was often paired with Zdeno Chára on Boston's top defensive line.

Prior to the 2009–10 season, on July 24, 2009, Ward was re-acquired by Carolina in exchange for forward Patrick Eaves and a fourth-round draft pick in 2010.[2] Ward struggled in his return with the Hurricanes, however, and on March 3, 2010, he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for goaltender Justin Pogge and a fourth-round draft pick.[3] During the subsequent off-season, on August 24, Ward announced his retirement from professional hockey after 13 NHL seasons.[4]

Broadcasting career

In the spring of 2010, Ward was the NHL on Versus analyst for the Stanley Cup playoffs and since then joined the Big Ten Network as the hockey analyst. Ward previously worked as a hockey analyst on TSN Hockey until 2015. In April 2019, he was hired by a local ABC affiliate station as an analyst to cover the Hurricanes' playoff run.[5]

Personal life

In March 2008, Ward, in conjunction with the Toucher and Rich radio program (WBCN 104.1) created a head-shaving charity event called 'Cuts for a Cause'. Seven players from the Boston Bruins shaved their heads to raise money to benefit the MassGeneral Hospital for Children. Patrice Bergeron, Phil Kessel, Andrew Alberts, Milan Lucic, Mark Stuart and Dennis Wideman joined Ward in helping raise $25,000. A second 'Cuts for a Cause' event took place in April 2009 with the group raising $32,000 for the Boston Bruins Foundation and MassGeneral Hospital for Children's Pediatric Oncology Unit.

On October 9, 2015, Ward was arrested and charged with assault on a female and interfering with emergency communication. According to the warrant, he and his wife had an argument during which he took away his wife's phone. This incident led to his indefinite suspension from his job as an analyst on TSN Hockey.[6] The charges were dropped by the Wake County District Attorney's Office in February 2016, stating that “After review of this case and discussions with the victim, it appears that further prosecution is not warranted.”[7]

Following their 2015 incident, Aaron and his wife, Kelly, separated and are now divorced. Both are still living in the North Carolina area.

On Montreal TSN690 Radio, Ward confirmed that he is now dating Lauren Ward. Referred to as his "future wife," the two have confirmed it via social media.

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1988–89 Nepean Raiders CJHL 54 1 14 15 40 — — — — —
1989–90 Nepean Raiders CJHL 52 6 33 39 85 — — — — —
1990–91 University of Michigan CCHA 46 8 11 19 126 — — — — —
1991–92 University of Michigan CCHA 42 7 12 19 64 — — — — —
1992–93 University of Michigan CCHA 30 5 8 13 73 — — — — —
1992–93 Canada Intl 4 0 0 0 8 — — — — —
1993–94 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 58 4 12 16 87 9 2 6 8 6
1993–94 Detroit Red Wings NHL 5 1 0 1 4 — — — — —
1994–95 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 76 11 24 35 87 4 0 1 1 0
1994–95 Detroit Red Wings NHL 1 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
1995–96 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 74 5 10 15 133 3 0 0 0 6
1996–97 Detroit Red Wings NHL 49 2 5 7 52 19 0 0 0 17
1997–98 Detroit Red Wings NHL 52 5 5 10 47 — — — — —
1998–99 Detroit Red Wings NHL 60 3 8 11 52 8 0 1 1 8
1999–2000 Detroit Red Wings NHL 36 1 3 4 24 3 0 0 0 0
2000–01 Detroit Red Wings NHL 73 4 5 9 57 — — — — —
2001–02 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 79 3 11 14 74 23 1 1 2 22
2002–03 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 77 3 6 9 90 — — — — —
2003–04 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 49 3 5 8 37 — — — — —
2004–05 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 8 0 3 3 16 11 1 1 2 16
2005–06 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 71 6 19 25 62 25 2 3 5 18
2006–07 New York Rangers NHL 60 3 10 13 57 — — — — —
2006–07 Boston Bruins NHL 20 1 2 3 18 — — — — —
2007–08 Boston Bruins NHL 65 5 8 13 54 6 0 1 1 6
2008–09 Boston Bruins NHL 65 3 7 10 44 11 1 0 1 2
2009–10 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 60 1 10 11 54 — — — — —
2009–10 Anaheim Ducks NHL 17 0 2 2 8 — — — — —
NHL totals 839 44 107 151 736 95 4 6 10 73

Awards and honours
Award Year
College
All-CCHA Rookie Team 1990-91
CCHA All-Tournament Team 1991 [8]
NHL
Stanley Cup (Detroit Red Wings) 1997 , 1998
Stanley Cup (Carolina Hurricanes) 2006

Trades and transactions
gollark: He does. He's a moderator.
gollark: He has that already, he's a moderator.
gollark: <@319753218592866315> You know how you told me to do something relating to Macron? There was an accident with the [REDACTED] ideatic space nullifiers, so Macron is now antimemetic and/or Hitler.
gollark: Time to Macron [DATA EXPUNGED] resulting in 12 casualties!
gollark: I work for Macron too, remember?

References
  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  2. Shinzawa, Fluto (2009-07-24). "Bruins trade Ward to Carolina". Boston.com. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  3. "Hurricanes gets goalie help". ESPN. 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  4. "Veteran defenceman Ward retires after 13 NHL seasons". The Sports Network. 2010-08-24. Archived from the original on 27 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
  5. "ABC11 NHL playoff analyst Aaron Ward breaks down Hurricanes vs Capitals". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. 2019-04-09. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  6. WRAL (2015-10-09). "Alleged assault earns former Canes player a weekend in jail". WRAL.com. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  7. WRAL (2016-02-23). "Former Canes player Ward has domestic assault charge dropped". WRAL.com. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  8. "2012-13 CCHA Media Guide". ISSUU.com. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Keith Tkachuk		 Winnipeg Jets first round draft pick
1991		 Succeeded by
Sergei Bautin
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.