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Joel Ward says he hasn’t retired from the National Hockey League

12 Tuesday Feb 2019

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Nope, not yet.

Former San Jose Sharks forward Joel Ward says he hasn’t officially retired from the NHL, despite media reports.

Free agent right wing Joel Ward says he hasn’t officially retired from the National Hockey League, contrary to media reports Monday.

In fact, Ward, 38, says he’s still open to joining an NHL team, whether it’s a young club that might need a veteran’s presence or a playoff-bound squad in search of a proven Stanley Cup Playoffs performer.

“No, I haven’t officially retired,” Ward told me in an email Monday night. “I’m always open to catch on a team…internet I tell ya lol they hear one thing and they run with it!”

Media outlets like the NHL Network, CBS Sports and  scores of hockey websites reported that Ward had hung up his skates based on comments he made at the University of Prince Edward Island’s Men’s Hockey Alumni Day. Ward played for the Canadian college team from 2001-02 to 2004-05.

A tweet from Complete Hockey News, based on Ward’s comments at the alumni day event, said “Joel Ward considers himself officially retired from professional hockey.”

A CBC story on Ward’s UPEI visit says he is “wrapping his head around retirement.” The tweet and reports were enough to launch a flood of salutes and congratulations to Ward for hanging up his skates.

Ward hasn’t played in the NHL or any other pro league since he appeared in 52 games for the San Jose Sharks last season. He had a tryout with the Montreal Canadiens, but didn’t make the  team.

I met Ward at the 2018 Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Toronto in November and he said he was working out on and off the ice with the expectation of playing this season.

Ward has played 11 NHL seasons with the Sharks, Washington Capitals, Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators. He notched 133 goals and 171 assists in 726 regular season games and 22 goals and 30 assists in 83 playoff contests.

And counting?

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Players of color play pivotal roles in 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs first round games

14 Saturday Apr 2018

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The Stanley Cup Playoffs have only just begun but players of color are already having a major impact in opening-round games.

From the East Coast to the West Coast, minority players played pivotal roles for their teams in first-round contests.

Forward Evander Kane showed why the San Jose Sharks obtained him from the Buffalo Sabres shortly before the trading deadline. He scored two second period goals in his first-ever National Hockey League playoff game, helping the Sharks defeat the Anaheim Ducks 3-0.

The 26-year-old Vancouver native became the fourth player in the last 20 years to have a multiple goal game in his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut, according to the NHL.

“It was nice to finally get out in the playoff atmosphere, and it was fun to finally get my first playoff win,” Kane told reporters after the game. “It’s finally nice to contribute. That’s my job. I feel confident in my abilities. I don’t think it was my best game, but I’m never going to be mad when we get a playoff win and I get to contribute.”

Washington Capitals forward Devante Smith-Pelly flashed some of the playoff magic he displayed  four seasons ago as a member of the Ducks, scoring a third-period goal that gave the Caps a 3-2 lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday night.

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Not to be outdone, Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones scored a power play goal that tied the game at 3. The Blue Jackets won the game 4-3 in overtime, deflating the playoff euphoria inside Washington’s Capital One Arena.

In addition to his goal, Jones led all skaters in the game with 30:59 minutes of ice time, further building the case for his consideration for the Norris Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL’s best defenseman.

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Jones was tenth among NHL defensemen in scoring in the 2017-18 regular season with 16 goals and 41 assists in 78 games.

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones.

“If he’s in Los Angeles, or he’s in Montreal, or in Toronto, or New York, we’re talking about this guy as a Norris Trophy candidate,” ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose told The Columbus Dispatch last month. “He does get overlooked, but not by hockey guys that see him play…Every GM in the NHL would love to have Seth Jones, and every coach would love to have him in their lineup. Those guys are very, very hard to find.”

Winnepeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien is another blueliner who’s come up big early in the playoffs.

Big Buff was an offensive and physical force in the Jets 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild Friday night.

He contributed a backhand saucer pass assist from behind the Wild net on teammate Paul Stastny’s third period goal and delivered crunching back-to-back hits on Minnesota players in the second period that energized the sellout crowd inside Winnipeg’s Bell MTS Place.

Byfuglien logged a team-high 23:51 minutes of ice time Friday, helping him earn the game’s first star honor.

“Just another day at the office,” he told reporters afterward.

Wild rookie forward Jordan Greenway  is yet to score a goal in the series against the Jets.

But the former Boston University star did tally an assist Wednesday in the Wild’s 3-2 loss to Winnipeg on Wednesday and he continued to make hockey history as the first person to play in the Winter Olympics, the NCAA ice hockey tournament and the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the same year.

Greenway became the first African American to play on a U.S. Olympic hockey team when he skated at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

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Trevor Daley enjoys a low-key day with the Stanley Cup the second time around

19 Wednesday Jul 2017

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Trevor Daley didn’t want to go para-sailing, mountain-climbing or club hopping with the Stanley Cup.

Trevor Daley wanted low-key family time with the Stanley Cup the second time around.

Instead of going buck-wild with the Cup, as some players who win it do on their designated day with Lord Stanley, the former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman arranged a decidedly buck-mild 24 hours with the championship trophy.

“Not too crazy this year with it, try to stay a little bit more low-key than last year,” said Daley, who dashed around to show the Cup off to as many friends, family and well-wishers as possible in his hometown Toronto area after the Penguins won it in the 2015-16 season. “I was, like, ‘Man, I shared it with everybody else, I never got a chance to sit down and just stare at it’ and be, like, wow this is what you accomplished.’ My family, my kids never got a chance to sit down and hang out with it.”

Back-to-back Stanley Cup victories allowed Daley the opportunity to rectify that situation.

“My son’s birthday party just passed, but we told him that part of his birthday party  would be hanging out with the Cup with a couple of his buddies in Toronto,” the veteran defenseman told me.

Trevor Daley and his family spend some quality time with the Stanley Cup (Photo/Phil Pritchard/Hockey Hall of Fame).

Daley still managed to make time for a couple of  public stops with the Cup Wednesday to show appreciation to the local folks who appreciate him. The kids at Toronto Professional Hockey School, a camp Daley attended as a minor hockey player, got a glimpse of the trophy many of the camp’s current attendees hope to some day hoist.

The Whitchurch- Stouville Fire and Emergency Services also got a visit from Daley and the Cup.

Unlike other major league sports, each player on a Stanley Cup-winning team gets to have the trophy for a day to do whatever. Phil Pritchard, the Hockey Hall of Fame’s white-gloved Keeper of the Cup, accompanies it on a summer-long journey.

The well-polished silver Cup and the gloved-one will travel thousands of miles through seven countries – the United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland – in 100 days for players, coaches, and key staff from 2016-17 Penguins to savor for a day.

The team’s 2015-16 Cup win has a special place in Daley’s heart. He was the first player Penguins captain Sidney Crosby handed the Cup to after the team defeated the San Jose Sharks, even though Daley missed the Stanley Cup Final because of a broken ankle.

Crosby knew that it was a dream of Daley’s ailing mother, Trudy, to see her son hoist the Cup. Trudy Daley passed away a week later at age 51.

“Last year was obviously tough – the timing of the injury,” he told me. “But it did allow me to spend some more time with my mom. If I was playing, I wouldn’t been allowed to spend that much time with her. Looking back, having won the Cup, it was kind of a blessing that I got to spend some time with her last year.”

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Daley, 33, said this year’s Cup is a little more special because he was able to play in the Final.

“Having gone through it twice now, back-to-back, I definitely felt more a part of it this year,” he told me. “Last year was very unfortunate, getting hurt and missing it. I remember after last year,  I always thought about getting back to this point, and I was fortunate to get back to it so soon. I always thought about playing in the Final to see what it was like on that stage.”

Daley will perform on a different stage in the 2017-18 season. A free agent, he signed a three-year, $9.53 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings in early July. He moves to a new team, a new town and will play in a brand new arena.

“I’m excited for the new challenge and new opportunity,” he told me. “I had never been through the process of free agency before and didn’t know what to expect. When Detroit came calling, I was pretty excited about – just the history of the franchise. They were one of the first teams to come to me and show interest in me.”

Daley stressed that he’s joining a team that’s retooling, not rebuilding. The Red Wings finished the 2016-17 season with a 33-36-13 record and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 25 years.

Red Wings management and fans don’t expect that to happen again. Neither does Daley.  He believes the Wings are “a team that wants to win, has a little chip on its shoulder, and is ready to make some noise next year.”

“I want to come in and be a guy who makes an impact right away, helps out in multiple areas” he told me. “I’m a guy that can add a little bit of offense and help push the pace a little bit – that’s what the league is about. I want to be able to bring all the right things that takes to help the team win each night and do it consistently.”

The 5-foot-11, 195-pound defenseman tallied 5 goals and 14 assists in 56 regular season games last season.  He had a goal and 4 assists in 21 playoff games.

The 14-season vet has 78 goals and 200 assists in 894 career regular season games with the Penguins, Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks and 6 goals and 12 assists in 71 career playoff contests.

Daley is one of only seven black players to have their names inscribed on the Stanley Cup. The others are goaltender Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990; goalie Eldon “Pokey” Reddick, Oilers, 1990; goalie Ray Emery, Blackhawks, 2013; defenseman Johnny Oduya, Blackhawks, 2013, 2015; right wing Jamal Mayers, Blackhawks, 2013; defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, Blackhawks, 2010.

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‘Soul on Ice’ star Jaden Lindo seeking to rewrite script toward NHL career

17 Wednesday May 2017

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Jaden Lindo loves a happy ending to a movie as much as anyone.

Lindo thought he provided one as a leading man in filmmaker Damon Kwame Mason’s excellent black hockey history documentary “Soul on Ice, Past, Present and Future.”

Mason’s camera followed Lindo, then a forward for the Ontario Hockey League’s Owen Sound Attack, through the high of awaiting the 2014 National Hockey League Draft and the low of suffering a severe season-ending knee injury that jeopardized his draft prospects.

Jaden Lindo scored 21 goals for the Sarnia Sting in 2016-17 (Photo/Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

The dramatic arc in the film ends with the Pittsburgh Penguins taking the injured Lindo in the sixth round with the 173rd overall pick in the draft. Happily ever-after, right?  Well, not yet.

“It didn’t work out the way I hoped with Pittsburgh, but there are different routes to getting to there (to the NHL),” Lindo told me in a recent telephone conversation from Accra, Ghana, where he and his family were vacationing. “There’s still a lot more for me to achieve and I still have a lot of potential that I still haven’t reached.  I’m completely optimistic.”

Pittsburgh signed Lindo to an amateur tryout agreement in 2015, and he even saw some exhibition game time with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

But things didn’t work out with the Pens. Lindo returned to Owen Sound where the 6-foot-2, 214-pound right wing had 14 goals and 16 assists in the 2015-16 season.

He was traded to the Sarnia Sting for the 2016-17 season and tallied 21 goals and 14 assists in 58 games as a 21-year-old in his final year of OHL eligibility.

Lindo says his script to the NHL isn’t finished. He’s committed to play Canadian college hockey at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario this fall.  The team, which posted a 24-14-0 record last season, is stocked with former major junior players.

Other former major junior players have taken the Canadian college route and landed in the NHL, most notably San Jose Sharks right wing Joel Ward, who skated for the University of Prince Edward Island after his Owen Sound career ended.

Like Ward, Lindo is a rugged power forward. But Lindo models his game after another Owen Sound alum, Philadelphia Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds. Lindo even lived in the same billet residence that Simmonds did during his major junior days.

His season for Sarnia completed – he had 2 goals and 1 assist in 4 OHL playoff games for the Sting – Lindo played two exhibition games last week for the Jamaican national hockey team effort in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His family is of Jamaican descent.

His play in the exhibition games caught the eye of Bill Riley, a Nova Scotia resident who became the NHL’s third black player when he joined the Washington Capitals in 1976.

“He has all the tools,” Riley told me. “I had a real good chat with him after the game. I said to him, ‘Look, you have everything it takes to be a pro.’ I told him it’s 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical. I said ‘if you’ve got the right mindset, don’t take no for an answer.”

Lindo appreciated the advice from Riley, who served as a Junior A hockey general manager and a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League head coach.

“He’s someone to reach out to and talk about hockey,” Lindo told me. “He knows the game, he’s been a pro, he knows what it takes. If I ever need that support, I have the ability to reach out and talk to him.”

For those who haven’t seen “Soul on Ice, Past, Present and Future,” the award-winning documentary by Damon Kwame Mason, catch it via iTunes, Amazon Video,  Google Play, Vudu, Microsoft Movies & TV,  or Sony PlayStation. It’s also available on Starz in the United States.

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The Joel Ward hockey story – by writer Joel Ward

02 Tuesday Aug 2016

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San Jose Sharks forward Joel Ward

San Jose Sharks forward Joel Ward

More often than not, no one can tell your story better than you can.

Catching up on my summer hockey reading, I came across this marvelous piece on the fascinating, deeply moving, hockey and life journey of San Jose Sharks forward Joel Ward in  The Players’ Tribune. The author? Joel Ward. Give the story a read.

Trevor Daley hoists the Stanley Cup one more day – his day with the trophy

23 Saturday Jul 2016

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Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley devised the plan years ago. All he needed was the Stanley Cup to hatch it.

Daley accomplished that last month when the Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks in the Stanley Cup Final, meaning that his plan for what he’d do on his day with the Cup would finally come to fruition.

Unlike other major league sports, each player on a Stanley Cup-winning team gets to have the championship trophy for a day to do whatever. Phil Pritchard, the Hockey Hall of Fame’s white-gloved Keeper of the Cup, accompanies the trophy on a summer-long journey through Canada, the United States, Russia, wherever a championship player resides.

“I’m going to bring the cup back home to where I grew up and around my neighborhoods that I grew up around playing hockey,” Toronto native Daley told Texas’ SportsDay earlier this month. “I can’t wait. Like I said, I’ve been thinking about that day for a really long time. Now that it’s come true it’s amazing.”

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley, center, brought a friend with him to a local ice rink - the Stanley Cup (Photo/Phil Pritchard/Hockey Hall of Fame).

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley, center, brought a friend with him to a local ice rink – the Stanley Cup (Photo/Phil Pritchard/Hockey Hall of Fame).

Daley took Stanley on a mini whistle-stop tour of sorts during his Cup time that stretched Friday into Saturday. First stop: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where he played major junior hockey for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League before the Dallas Stars made him their second round pick in the 2002 NHL Draft.

Then it was on to home town Toronto for some public and private quality time with Lord Stanley’s trophy.

The Penguins’ Stanley Cup victory capped a bittersweet 2015-16 season for Daley. He was traded from the Stars to the Chicago Blackhawks before the season began, then dealt by the Hawks after 29 games to the Penguins.

Sitting on the dock of the bay, Trevor Daley and the Stanley Cup watch the tide roll away (Photo/Phil Pritchard/Hockey Hall of Fame).

Sitting on the dock of the bay, Trevor Daley and the Stanley Cup watch the tide roll away (Photo/Phil Pritchard/Hockey Hall of Fame).

He skated with a heavy heart as his mother, Trudy Daley, battled cancer. Her dying wish was to see her son hoist the Cup. Penguins team captain Sidney Crosby made sure that happened, handing Daley the Cup first even though Daley missed the San Jose series because of a broken ankle.

He was all smiles as he skated briefly and gingerly with the 123-year-old, 35-pound trophy that has the names of 2,000 Cup-winning players and coaches inscribed on it.

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley and son with the Stanley Cup in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. (Photo/Phil Pritchard/Hockey Hall of Fame).

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley and son with the Stanley Cup in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. (Photo/Phil Pritchard/Hockey Hall of Fame).

“She was pumped, she was excited,” Daley told SportsDay. “She got to see my son out there on the ice with me too so she was really excited about the whole situation. She said before the game …’It’d be nice if they win this for you tonight so you can come home and see me soon.'”

A week later, Trudy Daley passed away at age 51.

Trevor Daley and Lord Stanley hanging out at the firehouse on Daley's day with the Stanley Cup (Photo/Phil Pritchard/Hockey Hall of Fame).

Trevor Daley and Lord Stanley hanging out at the firehouse on Daley’s day with the Stanley Cup (Photo/Phil Pritchard/Hockey Hall of Fame).

She didn’t live to see her son’s day with the Stanley Cup. But, as part of a plan he devised so long ago, Trevor Daley’s family, friends, and others he encountered along his hockey journey had a chance to bask in Lord Stanley’s silvery glow.

“The day after he won the Stanley Cup, he called me and said ‘the Cup is coming home,’” Ryan Land, who organized a Cup-viewing for Daley at The Spice Route bar in Toronto, told The Toronto Sun. “Two weeks later, he called me with a date and said ‘plan me a Stanley Cup party and here’s what I want to do.”

Trevor Daley introduced the Stanley Cup to his old neighborhood playground (Photo/Phil Pritchard/Hockey Hall of Fame).

Trevor Daley introduced the Stanley Cup to his old neighborhood playground (Photo/Phil Pritchard/Hockey Hall of Fame).

When the names of the 2015-16 Penguins players are added to the Cup, Daley will join the small fraternity of black players with their names immortalized on the trophy:  goaltender Grant Fuhr (Edmonton Oilers –  1985, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990),  goalie Ray Emery (Chicago Blackhawks – 2013), defenseman Johnny Oduya (Blackhawks – 2013, 2015), wing Dustin Byfuglien (Blackhawks – 2010), and netminder Eldon “Pokey” Reddick(Oilers –  1990).

 

 

 

Joel Ward thinks the NHL should honor Willie O’Ree by retiring his number

30 Monday May 2016

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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.”

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O’Ree, who serves as the NHL’s director for youth development and ambassador for diversity, skated into hockey history on Jan. 18, 1958 when he played for the Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens at the old Montreal Forum.

A right wing, O’Ree appeared in 45 games over two seasons for the Bruins – 1957-58 and 1960-61 – and tallied 4 goals, 10 assists and 26 penalty minutes. Though his NHL career was brief, O’Ree enjoyed a lengthy minor league career, playing primarily  for the San Diego Gulls and the Los Angeles Blades of the old Western Hockey League.

His career minor league numbers: 328 goals, 311 assists, 669 penalty minutes in 785 WHL games; 21 goals, 25 assists, 37 PIMs (penalties in minutes) in the Pacific Coast League; and 21 goals, 24 assists and 41 PIMs in 56 American Hockey League contests.

He enjoyed a long professional career despite playing blind in his right eye, the result of a hockey injury.

Diversity on display. Left to right: Philadelphia Flyers forwards Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Wayne Simmonds with Willie O'Ree and former Flyer goalie Ray Emery (Photo/Philadelphia Flyers).

Diversity on display. Left to right: Philadelphia Flyers forwards Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Wayne Simmonds with Willie O’Ree and former Flyer goalie Ray Emery (Photo/Philadelphia Flyers).

O’Ree’s contribution to the game can be measured beyond goals and assists. He’s the godfather to players of color, from pee wees to the pros. It’s not unusual for minority NHLers, from rookies to veterans, to seek him out for advice.

“He’s my elder,” high-scoring Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds told reporters during an O’Ree visit to the team in 2015. “I treat him with respect and let him know I have a lot of admiration for him. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be playing the game today.”

Karl Subban – father of Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban,  Bruins goaltending prospect Malcolm Subban and Vancouver Canucks defense draftee  Jordan Subban – once told me that if one of his boys felt they were wronged in the hockey world, he’d remind them of what O’Ree and Mike Marson, the NHL’s second black player, endured.

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O’Ree isn’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but he is in the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame and the San Diego Hall of Champions. In 2007, he received the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

But Ward feels the time has come for the NHL to honor O’Ree by retiring his number, the same way Major League Baseball universally retired Jackie Robinson’s 42 in 1997. Ward wears 42 in honor of Robinson.

“It would be great if they did,” Ward told ESPN. “Obviously that’s something that would be a great discussion about. With the amount of respect Willie has around the league, it would definitely be something special if that did come up.”

Ward’s on the cusp of making hockey history himself. Either he or Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley will be the next black player to have his name etched onto the Stanley Cup.

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One of them will join goaltender Grant Fuhr (Edmonton Oilers –  1985, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990),  goalie Ray Emery (Chicago Blackhawks – 2013), defenseman Johnny Oduya (Blackhawks – 2013, 2015), wing Dustin Byfuglien (Blackhawks – 2013), and netminder Eldon “Pokey” Reddick (Oilers –  1990) as Cup winners.

With the Stanley Cup Final opening Monday, here’s a little more black hockey trivia:

Traded to Pittsburgh by Chicago, defenseman Trevor Daley may get his name on the Stanley Cup.

Traded to Pittsburgh by Chicago, defenseman Trevor Daley may get his name on the Stanley Cup.

There are only two black players in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Fuhr was inducted in 2003 and Angela James, regarded as one of Canada’s greatest female players, was inducted in 2010.

They will surely have company whenever Colorado Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla retires. Playing with the Avalanche, Penguins, Bruins and Calgary Flames, Iginla has tallied 661 goals, 662 assists and 1,273 PIMs in 1,474 NHL regular season games.

Iginla has 37 goals, 31 assists and 98 PIMs in 81 playoff games. He owns two Winter Olympics Gold Medals, earned in Vancouver in 2010 and Salt Lake City in 2002.

He also has gold from the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and 1997 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship.

Iginla, whose father is from Nigeria, will probably have the longest and coolest name on a Hall of Fame plaque if he choose to use the full handle: Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla.

There are at least four ice skating rinks in North America named after black people. Willie O’Ree Place is in Fredericton, New Brunswick; the Angela James Arena in Toronto; Philadelphia’s Laura Simms Skate House in Cobbs Creek Park. Simms was a community activist who pushed the city to build an ice rink in a mostly-black neighborhood.; and The Art Dorrington Rink at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.

Dorrington, a long-time minor league hockey player, began a popular youth hockey program in his adopted city to help kids stay out of trouble and stay in school.

 

 

If it’s playoff time, it’s Joel Ward time

30 Saturday Apr 2016

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Joel Ward strikes again, scoring a crucial Stanley Cup Playoffs goal.

Joel Ward strikes again, scoring a crucial Stanley Cup Playoffs goal.

Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson earned the nickname “Mr. October” for his home run exploits in the playoffs and World Series.

San Jose Sharks forward Joel Ward has earned the reputation  as “Mr. April” or “Mr. May” for his post-season heroics.  Ward showed why the Sharks signed him to a three-year contract last summer as he scored a beautiful goal in the Sharks’ 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators in a second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs tilt Friday night.

“I just try to embrace the moment,”  the 35-year-old veteran told the Associated Press. “I just think it’s the atmosphere of the crowds whether its home or away. Everyone is ramped up.”

Ward has 15 goals and 26 assists in 59 career playoff games. He’s averaging a point a game – 1 goal and 5 assists – in six playoff games this post-season. When he played for the Predators, Ward scored 7 goals in 12 playoff games in 2011. Another important number: Ward wears 42 to honor Brooklyn Dodgers baseball great Jackie Robinson.

He’s the crusher of goalie dreams. In 2012, as a member of the Washington Capitals, he scored a Game 7 overtime goal past Tim Thomas that eliminated the Boston Bruins from the playoffs.  In last season’s playoffs, he scored a game-winning goal with one second left that beat goalie Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers.

You can call Ward anything – a baller, a player, the X-Factor, The Man, money, a beast, a stud, “Mr. April” or “Mr. May.” Whatever it is, just make sure you call him one hell of a playoff hockey performer.

 

 

Former NHLer Mike Grier to coach all-star team of American hockey prospects

04 Thursday Sep 2014

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Mike Grier already has his strategy down for coaching a squad of some of the best 2015 NHL draft-eligible players born in the United States: just open the bench door and point them to the ice.

“You’ve got all the best players around so you won’t have to do too much,” Grier told me. “I’ll keep everyone involved and keep the lines flowing.”

Grier will test his coaching philosophy on September 25 when he serves as a bench boss at the CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, home of the Buffalo Sabres.

“It’s definitely an honor to be involved in this event,” Grier said. “It’s a big deal for USA Hockey and you’ll have a lot of NHL teams watching.”

Rugged forward Mike Grier had two stints with the Buffalo Sabres during his 15-year NHL career (Photo/Bill Wippert)

Rugged forward Mike Grier had two stints with the Buffalo Sabres during his 15-year NHL career (Photo/Bill Wippert)

Forty-two players who’ll be eligible for the 2015 NHL Draft will compete on teams coached by Grier – who played 15 seasons for the Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, and San Jose Sharks – and Eddie Olczyk, the lead hockey analyst for the NHL on NBC and NBC Sports Network.

Olczyk played 16 seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He helped guide the Rangers to its Stanley Cup victory in 1994 and is a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

A Detroit native and Boston University hockey standout, Grier was the NHL’s fourth  U.S.-born black player. He followed Indiana-born forward Donald Brashear, Maine’s Mike McHugh, and Ocala, Florida’s Valmore James who became the NHL’s first African-American player when he debuted with Sabres in the 1981-82 season.

James and Brashear were tough guys, on-ice enforcers known more for their fists than their scoring touch. Grier combined toughness with scoring. He was the NHL’s first African-American player to score more than 20 goals in a season. He finished his career with 162 goals, 383 total points and 510 penalty minutes in 1,060 games.

Grier played for Team USA at the 1995 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship and won a bronze medal skating for the U.S. at the 2004 IIHF Men’s World Championship.

“It’s really something that I’m proud of, being one of the first to break through,” Grier said.  “The (minority) players who are coming up now are skill players who are contributing to their teams. It’s only natural to get more kids of color in the game.”

These days, Grier is involved in coaching youth hockey coaching and he served as an on-ice instructor last month at USA Hockey’s Boys’ Select 17 Player Development Camp.

“I’m just seeing what comes,” Grier said. “I like working with kids on the player development side of it and giving back to the kids.”

Hispanic players thriving in pro hockey

30 Monday Sep 2013

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Editor’s note: This story was initially posted in September 2013 and continues to receive hundreds of views per month. So I’ve updated information on the whereabouts of some of the players in the 2015-16 season.

I recently realized that I haven’t fully done my job here at the Color of Hockey when a colleague of mine complimented me about the blog, marveled at the number of black players in professional hockey and the impact they’re having, and wondered if there are any Hispanic players in the National Hockey League.

Not only are there Hispanic players in the NHL, several are thriving. Some have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup; some have played for their respective countries in the Winter Olympics; some have had uneven careers.

And similar to the growing group of black NHL players, more Hispanic players are heading to the league – a testament to hockey’s popularity and a legacy to minority-oriented youth hockey programs across the United States and Canada.

And hockey isn’t strange to Spanish-speaking nations. Spain is ranked 31st in the world in men’s hockey and 26th in women’s hockey by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The European nation has 521 junior players, 197 male players, 205 female players and 18 indoor ice skating rinks, according to the IIHF.

Mexico’s men’s team is 32nd in IIHF’s rankings and its women’s squad is ranked 35th in the world. The United States’ southern neighbor boasts nearly 2,020 players – 243 men, 1,427 juniors, and 350 women and girls. The country has 20 indoor ice skating rinks – more than some cities and states in the U.S.

Veteran Scott Gomez began the 2015-16 season in St. Louis and will end it with the Ottawa Senators.

Veteran Scott Gomez began the 2015-16 season in St. Louis and will end it with the Ottawa Senators.

So to answer my friend Franco’s question, let’s give some love to the NHL’s Hispanic players.

Ottawa Senators center Scott Gomez carries a double dose of pride. He’s proud of his Mexican-Colombian heritage and equally proud of being a native Alaskan.

“You know, growing up in Anchorage, it wasn’t like ‘There’s Scott Gomez, the Mexican hockey player,'” he told The Philadelphia Inquirer  in 2000. “It was, you know, Scott Gomez, the hockey player. People started making a big deal about it as I got older.”

He played with the ECHL’s Alaska Aces during last year’s NHL labor lockout. Through his Scotty Gomez Hockey Association, Gomez gave back to his community recently by having the association take over operating the Anchorage high school girls hockey program, which suffered from poor participation.

“Girls hockey is back,” Carlos Gomez, Scott’s father, told The Anchorage Daily News recently. “Whether it survives is up to the girls and the community.”

Scott Gomez was selected with the 27th pick of the 1998 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils. He joined the Devils in the 1999-2000 season and scored 19 goals and 51 assists, good enough to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie player. He helped power the Devils to the Stanley Cup in 2000 by scoring 10 points during the playoffs and Cup final.

He won another Stanley Cup with the Devils in 2003, scoring three goals and nine assists in 24 games during the playoffs.

Gomez played for the U.S. hockey team in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. The team failed to medal, but Gomez scored one goal and four assists in six games.

In 2007, he signed a seven-year, $51.5 million free agent deal with the neighboring New York Rangers. He didn’t have a successful run on Broadway and the Rangers traded him to the Montreal Canadiens in January 2009. Lengthy scoring droughts dogged Gomez in Montreal and the Canadiens bought out his contract.

He signed a one-year deal with the San Jose Sharks once the NHL resumed play in the

L.A. Kings defenseman Alec Martinez has his name on the Stanley Cup.

L.A. Kings defenseman Alec Martinez has his name on the Stanley Cup.

2012-2013 season. There, he scored two goals and 13 assists in 39 games. Gomez began the 2015-16 NHL season with the St. Louis Blues but signed on with the Senators in March after the Blues released him.

The 36-year-old has 1 goal and 8 assists in 34 games this season.

Like Gomez, defenseman Alec Martinez of the Los Angeles Kings has his name on the Stanley Cup. He earned the honor when the Kings won the Cup in the 2011-12 season. Of Spanish roots, Martinez was born in hockey-mad Michigan but spent most of his youth playing hockey in Northern California before playing for Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from 2005 to 2008. He was selected by the Kings with the 95th pick in the 2007 NHL Draft.

Martinez notched 10 goals and 21 assists in 78 games for the Kings this season.

Forward Raffi Torres broke into the NHL in the 2000-2001 season with the New York Islanders and he’s been scoring goals and breaking bones – including his own – with thundering hits ever since.

Raffi Torres was dealt from the Sharks to the Maple Leafs. Between a 41-game suspension and injury, he hasn't played in an NHL game this season.

Raffi Torres was dealt from the Sharks to the Maple Leafs. Between a 41-game suspension and injury, he hasn’t played in an NHL game this season.

Torres went without a goal in his 14-game debut with the Islanders, something that has rarely happened since in his NHL career. Since entering the NHL, the well-traveled Torres has scored 134 goals, 121 assists, and a whopping 490 penalty minutes for the Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Arizona Coyotes, and San Jose Sharks.

The 2015-16 season has been has been a difficult one for Torres. It began with a 41-game suspension for an illegal pre-season hit on Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg.

He was also rehabilitating from a knee injury. The Sharks sent him to its American Hockey League farm team, the San Jose Barracuda, in January for conditioning then traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 34-year-old forward hasn’t appeared in an NHL game this season.

“I just want to play,” Torres, whose contract expires this summer, told The Toronto Sun. “I want to get healthy and play. I don’t mind riding buses. I would do that. It’s a pretty good life, making a living playing hockey. I’m not ready to give it up.”

Forward Raffi Torres, right, didn't appear in an NHL game in 2015-16, but he did play a few games with the AHL San Jose Barracuda.

Forward Raffi Torres, right, didn’t appear in an NHL game in 2015-16, but he did play a few games with the AHL San Jose Barracuda.

The son of Mexican and Peruvian parents, Torres grew up in Canada. Torres’ father wanted him to be a soccer player, but young Raffi gravitated towards hockey, Canada’s national pastime.

“My parents came to Canada for a better opportunity,” said Torres. “I grew up with my parents always speaking Spanish to us. We were always eating Mexican food.”

Al Montoya seemed destined to be “The One” – a Hispanic hockey superstar. After all he had the pedigree: the Cuban-American kid from Chicago was a star goaltender at the University of Michigan, where he posted a record of 30 wins, only seven losses, and three ties during the 2004-05 season.

He twice played twice for the U.S. in the International Ice Hockey Federation

Goalie Al Montoya's solid play has helped return the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Goalie Al Montoya’s solid play has helped return the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

World Junior Championship and backstopped the U.S. squad to a Gold Medal at the 2004 tournament in Finland.

The New York Rangers took Montoya with the sixth pick in the first round of the 2004 NHL Draft.  Montoya post good numbers with the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers’ AHL farm team. He was 64-34-4 with Hartford in three AHL seasons.

But his path to Madison Square Garden was blocked by the rise of all-world Swedish goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who the Rangers took with the 205th pick in the 2000 draft.

In 2008, the Rangers traded Montoya to the Arizona Coyotes, where he posted a 3-1 record in five games. After a stint with the San Antonio Rampage, Arizona’s AHL team, Montoya was traded to the New York Islanders in the 2010-11 season. He won nine games for the lackluster Isles that year. More important, he posted a sparkling .921 save percentage.

In the 2012-13 season, Montoya signed with the Winnipeg Jets where he want 3-1-1 in seven games and settled in nicely as the backup goaltender to Ondrej Pavelec. Feeling like he’s finally found a home, Montoya happily re-upped with team for the 2013-14 season.

“I really enjoyed my time last year,” Montoya said after re-signing in April. “This is a good group, it’s a good team and we came so close last year. The city is great, my family likes it and I think this team is moving in the right direction.”

But then South Florida came calling and Montoya signed with the Florida Panthers in the 2014-15 season. So far this season, Montoya has posted a 12-6 record with a 2.13 goals-against average serving as Roberto Luongo’s backup.

When you hear the name Raphael Diaz, the last things that you probably think of are the Alps and fondue. But Diaz, a defenseman with the Canadiens, hails from Switzerland. His mother is Swiss, his father a Spaniard.

Defenseman Raphael Diaz patrols the blue line for the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack (Photo/Chirs Rutsch/Hartford Wolf Pack).

Defenseman Raphael Diaz patrols the blue line for the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack (Photo/Chirs Rutsch/Hartford Wolf Pack).

“I visited my family in Corunna, which is in the northwest region near Portugal,” Diaz told Canadiens.com last year. “The food there was amazing: tapas, paella, tortillas. I love to visit my dad’s family at least once a year.”

Diaz netted a goal and 13 assists for Montreal in a lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. The third-year defenseman represented Switzerland in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and he’s a strong candidate to wear the Swiss red cross crest again at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

He has spent most of this season in the AHL playing for Hartford, where he’s notched 6 goals and 14 assists in 35 games for the Wolf Pack.