| Aaron Ward | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Ward pictured during his time with the Boston Bruins | |||
| Born | (1973-01-17)January 17, 1973 (age 53) | ||
| 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 | ||
Aaron Christian Ward (born January 17, 1973) is a Canadian former professionalice hockeydefenceman who played more than 800 games over a span of 13 seasons in theNational Hockey League (NHL) for theDetroit Red Wings,Carolina Hurricanes,New York Rangers,Boston Bruins andAnaheim Ducks. He is a three-timeStanley Cup champion, having won twice with Detroit in1997 and1998 and once with Carolina in2006.
Born inWindsor, Ontario, Ward moved with his family toBlackburn Hamlet, Ontario, a suburb ofOttawa, as a youth where he attended Emily Carr Middle School. He played in the 1987Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with aminor ice hockey team fromGloucester, Ontario.[1]
Ward played junior hockey for theNepean Raiders of theCentral Junior A Hockey League before accepting a scholarship to attend theUniversity of Michigan.[citation needed] After one season playing for theWolverines ice hockey team, he was drafted fifth overall by theWinnipeg Jets in the1991 NHL entry draft.[citation needed]
Before his playing days at Michigan were over, he was traded to theDetroit Red Wings, signing with the club in 1993. He was then assigned to the Red Wings' affiliateAdirondack Red Wings for the 1993–94 season, where he spent the bulk of the next three seasons. He later made his NHL debut in1993–94 and scored his first career NHL goal at theArrowhead Pond on October 8, 1993. Ward became a regular NHLer during the1996–97 season.[citation needed]
Ward has played over 600 career NHL games and been a member of threeStanley Cup championship teams, two while playing for the Red Wings in 1997, 1998 and one with theCarolina Hurricanes in 2006. In 2006, Ward scored the first goal in Game 7 of theStanley Cup Finals to help his team win the Cup.[citation needed] After the 2006 season, Ward became anunrestricted free agent, whereupon he signed with theNew York Rangers, joining fellow free agent and 2006 Cup-winning teammateMatt Cullen in New York. Ward's tenure as a Ranger, however, was short-lived, as during the2006–07 season, among rumours of tension between him and then-Rangers captainJaromír Jágr, Ward found himself traded to theBoston Bruins in exchange for defencemanPaul Mara. With Boston, Ward added solid defence and much-needed veteran leadership to the team, and was often paired withZdeno Chára on Boston's top defensive line.[citation needed]
Prior to the2009–10 season, on July 24, 2009, Ward was re-acquired by Carolina in exchange for forwardPatrick Eaves and a fourth-round draft pick in2010.[2] Ward struggled in his return with the Hurricanes, however, and on March 3, 2010, he was traded to theAnaheim Ducks in exchange for goaltenderJustin 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]
In the spring of 2007 and 2010, Ward was theNHL on Versus analyst for theStanley Cup playoffs and since then joined theBig Ten Network as the hockey analyst. Ward previously worked as a hockey analyst onTSN Hockey until 2015. In April 2019, he was hired by a localABC affiliate station as an analyst to cover the Hurricanes' playoff run.[5]
In March 2008, Ward, in conjunction with theToucher and Rich radio program (WBCN 104.1) created a head-shaving charity event called 'Cuts for a Cause'. Seven players from the Boston Bruinsshaved their heads to raise money to benefit theMassGeneral Hospital for Children.Patrice Bergeron,Phil Kessel,Andrew Alberts,Milan Lucic,Mark Stuart andDennis 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 at his home inCary, North Carolina and charged with assault on a female and interfering with emergency communication.[6] 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 onTSN Hockey.[7] The charges were dismissed and the record expunged by theWake 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.”[8]
| 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 | ||||
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| College | ||
| All-CCHARookie Team | 1990–91 | |
| CCHAAll-Tournament Team | 1991 | [9] |
| NHL | ||
| Stanley Cup (Detroit Red Wings) | 1997,1998 | |
| Stanley Cup (Carolina Hurricanes) | 2006 | |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Winnipeg Jets first round draft pick 1991 | Succeeded by |