Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “.
Last week, the Vegas Golden Knights announced that former Owen Sound Junior Joel Ward had been hired as an Assistant Coach for the Knights American Hockey League affiliate which is located in Henderson, Nevada.
Ward is one of the very rare players who suited up for the Junior B Greys, the Ontario Hockey League Platers and the OHL Attack while lodged in Owen Sound.
I don’t know this for a fact, but his hiring in Vegas might be one of familiarity, since the coaching staff in Sin City have known him, and coached him at times, over more than 2 decades.
When Ward played in the OHL for Owen Sound, the current Vegas coaching tandem of Peter DeBoer and Steve Spott were coaching at Plymouth with the OHL Whalers.
Over 4 seasons Ward scored 4 times in 14 games head-to-head against the Whalers, who were almost a perennial contender for the Robertson Cup in that era.
The numbers certainly aren’t staggering but Ward’s style of play and the back story that saw him go from unheralded long-shot rookie to valuable performer over 4 years in Owen Sound likely made an impression.
Almost 2 decades later, the late blooming Ward was in the final stages of his remarkable ascent in the world of hockey, still in the NHL and playing for the San Jose Sharks.
His coach for his final three years at San Jose in which he scored 36 goals; Peter DeBoer.
The assistant coach for most of that time period; Steve Spott.
DeBoer, then Spott, took over for Gerard Gallant & Mike Kelly earlier this year with the Vegas Golden Knights and it appears the Knights organization, with a vacancy on the AHL coaching staff, went with Joel Ward, someone DeBoer & Spott have known of for decades and coached in the twilight of his remarkable NHL journey.
I’m Fred Wallace