There will be lots of Islanders with a special rooting interest tonight as the Stanley Cup final begins.
Former UPEI Panthers forward Joel Ward and his San Jose Sharks are in Pittsburgh to play the Penguins at 9 p.m. Atlantic.
Doug Currie recruited and coached Ward at UPEI and has talked to many former players since the Sharks won the Western Conference final Wednesday.
“Everybody is following Joel,” Currie said. “We’re all pretty proud of him and we’re all pretty happy for him. It’s going to be an exciting final.”
Ward scored twice, including the series-clinching goal, Wednesday as the Sharks advanced to the final for the first time in the franchise’s 25-year history.
“It’s just another chapter in what’s been a great story for Joel Ward’s journey as a professional hockey player,” Currie said. “It was a clutch, key performance by Joel.”
Ward played for the Panthers from 2001-02 to 2004-05 and graduated with a sociology degree.
Before coming to UPEI, Ward played three seasons with the Owen Sound Platers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
Currie said he lightly recruited Ward during his overage season in the OHL because he expected the North York, Ont., native to be in the American Hockey League the next season.
Ward was undrafted, but had a tryout in Detroit.
“When he was released I made a very timely phone call to see if he was interested in coming to UPEI,” Currie recalled.
There were players in the Panthers dressing room Ward knew from the OHL. They included Adam Campbell, Darcy Harris and John Brioux.
“He really blossomed during his time at UPEI,” Harris said. “His last two years, especially, he was a dominant player. No one could take the puck from him. He was so strong along the wall.”
Harris was a teammate of Ward’s for three seasons, but they never played on a line together.
“We were both right-wingers and he was a lot better than I was,” Harris laughed.
After Harris graduated he helped coach with Mike Kelly in Ward’s final year with the Panthers. Harris and Ward remain in contact and he’ll be cheering for his buddy tonight despite being a big Penguins fan.
“I can’t think of anybody who deserves it more,” Harris said. “It’s pretty exciting . . . somebody that you know is playing in the Stanley Cup final. To know it's somebody like Joel, who is such a humble guy and who has worked so hard his whole career that really deserves it, it’s pretty neat.”
Ward, who was unable to be reached for this story, has played for Minnesota, Nashville, Washington and San Jose during his nine-year NHL career. Despite being in the best professional hockey league, Ward hasn’t forgotten P.E.I. or UPEI. He remains in contact with friends and has supported the Panthers program.
UPEI head coach Forbes MacPherson said Ward’s impact on the Panthers program remains strong.
“This time of the year, when we’re in the high peak of our recruiting season, Joel is somebody we talking about on a daily basis,” MacPherson said.
Sometimes the head coach is calling players from western Canada or the United States, trying to gauge their interest in coming to the east coast. Sometimes the players are not familiar with UPEI and sometimes they don’t know where P.E.I. is., but they know who Joel Ward is.
“You can’t put a value on how much it means to our program,” MacPherson said.
It puts MacPherson in an awkward position, as his cousin is Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby.
He’s diplomatic when asked who is cheering for to hoist the Cup.
“I feel like I’m in a very fortunate position because in our house the two teams we cheer for is Pittsburgh and San Jose,” MacPherson said. “We want to see both individuals do very well, both teams play well and hopefully it’s a great series.”
He did say he’s cheering for the Penguins to win, but if it doesn’t happen, there will be a silver lining.
Joel Ward
Who – A right-winger with the San Jose Sharks. He’s played 596 NHL games and recorded 263 points.
Hometown – North York, Ont.
Age – 35.
Did you know? Ward was co-athlete of the year at UPEI in 2004-05 with Sherone Edwards.
UPEI Stats
Season GP G A Pts.
2001-02 22 13 14 27
2002-03 19 11 15 26
2003-04 27 14 24 38
2004-05 28 16 28 44
Source – www.hockeydb.com
There will be lots of Islanders with a special rooting interest tonight as the Stanley Cup final begins.
Former UPEI Panthers forward Joel Ward and his San Jose Sharks are in Pittsburgh to play the Penguins at 9 p.m. Atlantic.
Doug Currie recruited and coached Ward at UPEI and has talked to many former players since the Sharks won the Western Conference final Wednesday.
“Everybody is following Joel,” Currie said. “We’re all pretty proud of him and we’re all pretty happy for him. It’s going to be an exciting final.”
Ward scored twice, including the series-clinching goal, Wednesday as the Sharks advanced to the final for the first time in the franchise’s 25-year history.
“It’s just another chapter in what’s been a great story for Joel Ward’s journey as a professional hockey player,” Currie said. “It was a clutch, key performance by Joel.”
Ward played for the Panthers from 2001-02 to 2004-05 and graduated with a sociology degree.
Before coming to UPEI, Ward played three seasons with the Owen Sound Platers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
Currie said he lightly recruited Ward during his overage season in the OHL because he expected the North York, Ont., native to be in the American Hockey League the next season.
Ward was undrafted, but had a tryout in Detroit.
“When he was released I made a very timely phone call to see if he was interested in coming to UPEI,” Currie recalled.
There were players in the Panthers dressing room Ward knew from the OHL. They included Adam Campbell, Darcy Harris and John Brioux.
“He really blossomed during his time at UPEI,” Harris said. “His last two years, especially, he was a dominant player. No one could take the puck from him. He was so strong along the wall.”
Harris was a teammate of Ward’s for three seasons, but they never played on a line together.
“We were both right-wingers and he was a lot better than I was,” Harris laughed.
After Harris graduated he helped coach with Mike Kelly in Ward’s final year with the Panthers. Harris and Ward remain in contact and he’ll be cheering for his buddy tonight despite being a big Penguins fan.
“I can’t think of anybody who deserves it more,” Harris said. “It’s pretty exciting . . . somebody that you know is playing in the Stanley Cup final. To know it's somebody like Joel, who is such a humble guy and who has worked so hard his whole career that really deserves it, it’s pretty neat.”
Ward, who was unable to be reached for this story, has played for Minnesota, Nashville, Washington and San Jose during his nine-year NHL career. Despite being in the best professional hockey league, Ward hasn’t forgotten P.E.I. or UPEI. He remains in contact with friends and has supported the Panthers program.
UPEI head coach Forbes MacPherson said Ward’s impact on the Panthers program remains strong.
“This time of the year, when we’re in the high peak of our recruiting season, Joel is somebody we talking about on a daily basis,” MacPherson said.
Sometimes the head coach is calling players from western Canada or the United States, trying to gauge their interest in coming to the east coast. Sometimes the players are not familiar with UPEI and sometimes they don’t know where P.E.I. is., but they know who Joel Ward is.
“You can’t put a value on how much it means to our program,” MacPherson said.
It puts MacPherson in an awkward position, as his cousin is Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby.
He’s diplomatic when asked who is cheering for to hoist the Cup.
“I feel like I’m in a very fortunate position because in our house the two teams we cheer for is Pittsburgh and San Jose,” MacPherson said. “We want to see both individuals do very well, both teams play well and hopefully it’s a great series.”
He did say he’s cheering for the Penguins to win, but if it doesn’t happen, there will be a silver lining.
Joel Ward
Who – A right-winger with the San Jose Sharks. He’s played 596 NHL games and recorded 263 points.
Hometown – North York, Ont.
Age – 35.
Did you know? Ward was co-athlete of the year at UPEI in 2004-05 with Sherone Edwards.
UPEI Stats
Season GP G A Pts.
2001-02 22 13 14 27
2002-03 19 11 15 26
2003-04 27 14 24 38
2004-05 28 16 28 44
Source – www.hockeydb.com
