Breaking: Goaltender Cam Ward Retires

Overtime Heroics Editorial

2200 days ago

Goaltender Cam Ward retires after fourteen NHL seasons. He played most of his career with the Carolina Hurricanes, and then played one season with the Chicago Blackhawks.

His First Years

The year was 2002, the NHL Entry Draft was taken place in Toronto. With the 25th overall selection, the Hurricanes went with a goalie, Cam Ward. It would be a little over three years before he would make his NHL debut, on October 7th, 2005. The game was against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was current NHL star, Sidney Crosby’s second game, and one of future Hockey Hall of Famer, Mario Lemieux’s last game. Ward made 28 stops in a 3-2 win. Not bad, Cam. His first two seasons were not great. He played a total of 88 games, and ended with an under .900 Sv% (Save Percentage).

It would get better, way better.

His Cup Run

One thing that I failed to mention, in his rookie season, the Carolina Hurricanes made the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That is when Ward kicked his play up a notch. The Hurricanes played the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, this series went to six games, which the Hurricanes won, the next series was against the New Jersey Devils, this series went to five games, the Hurricanes won. In the Eastern Conference Final, the Hurricanes would face the Buffalo Sabres, the Hurricanes would go on to beat them in seven games. Now, the Hurricanes were in the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers. Cam Ward had taken the starting goalie role from Martin Gerber, and was on a hot streak. This would continue, as they beat the Oilers in seven games, as the Hurricanes went on to win the 2006 Stanley Cup. The Conn Smythe Trophy would go to Cam Ward. He owned a .920 Sv% and a 2.14 Goals Against Average (GAA). Not a bad rookie season for Ward.

The Middle Years

Not much would happen in the middle of Cam Wards career, from 2007 to 2018, Ward would play in 580 games and have 274 wins and 215 losses. Ward and the Hurricanes would only make the playoffs once, that was in 2009. They got swept in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Cam played in 18 of those games.

Small Stint with Chicago

In the 2018 offseason, Cam Ward was an unrestricted free agent. The Hurricanes had no interest in him. So, Ward took his talents to the Windy City, Chicago, on a one year deal. His role was a backup behind long time starter, Corey Crawford. Unfortunately, Crawford would face injuries, and end up spending time with Colin Delia. Ward would play 33 games and go 16-12-4 with a 3.67 GAA and a .897 Sv%. In the 2019 offseason, Cam Ward would decide that it is time to hang up the skates.