Few players had a better start to their NHL career than Ward, who was a Stanley Cup champion and a Conn Smythe Trophy winner by the end of his first season in the League.

The Carolina Hurricanes selected Ward in the first round (No. 25) of the 2002 NHL Draft after he won 30 games in his first full season with Red Deer of the Western Hockey League. He played two more seasons with Red Deer, then played for Lowell of the American Hockey League after turning pro in 2004-05.

Ward was promoted to the Hurricanes in 2005-06, though he spent most of the season backing up Martin Gerber. But he took the starting job early in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and ran with it, finishing 15-8 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .920 save percentage to help the Hurricanes win their first championship since entering the NHL as the Hartford Whalers in 1979. Ward was voted winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after the Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers, the team he grew up watching, in a seven-game Cup Final.

After his postseason heroics, Ward became the starter in 2006-07, winning 30, 37 and 39 games in the next three seasons and helping the Hurricanes reach the Eastern Conference Final in 2009. He started slowly in 2009-10, then missed a month after sustaining a leg cut and dropped to 18 wins.

But Ward rebounded with 37 victories in 2010-11, a season highlighted when he was selected to play in the NHL All-Star Game in front of his home fans in Raleigh. He was also credited with a goal Dec. 26, 2011, when he made a save during a delayed penalty in a game against the New Jersey Devils and an errant pass from the offensive zone by Ilya Kovalchuk slid back into an empty net.

Ward remained with Carolina through 2017-18, then played one season with the Chicago Blackhawks. He signed a one-day contract with the Hurricanes on Aug. 28, 2019 and retired 334-256-88, a 2.74 GAA and 27 shutouts. Ward also went 23-18 with a 2.38 GAA, .917 save percentage and four shutouts in the playoffs.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• WHL East First All-Star Team (2002, 2004)
• Canadian Major Junior Second All-Star Team (2002)
• WHL East Second All-Star Team (2003)
• WHL Goaltender of the Year (2002, 2004)
• WHL Player of the Year (2004)
• Canadian Major Junior First All-Star Team (2004)
• Canadian Major Junior Goaltender of the Year (2004)
• AHL All-Rookie Team (2005)
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (2011)
• Signed as a free agent by Chicago, July 3, 2018.