Geoff Ward (ice hockey)

Geoff Ward (born April 8, 1962) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach who is the interim head coach for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously worked as an assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils, the Boston Bruins, and the Flames. He won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011.

Geoff Ward
Ward in 2007
Born (1962-04-08) April 8, 1962
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
OccupationIce hockey coach, player
Coaching career
PositionInterim head coach
General managerBrad Treliving
TeamCalgary Flames
Years as a coach1989–present
Years as an NHL coach2019–present
Years with current team2015–present

Career

Ward started his coaching career as an assistant at the University of Waterloo in 1989 and remained on the Warriors’ coaching staff for three years. In the 1993–94 season, Ward guided the Waterloo Siskins to an MWJHL championship and then served a five-year stint as head coach of the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Hockey League.

Ward's first coaching job in Europe came in the 2000–01 season, when he worked for German second-division side EC Bad Nauheim. Back in North America, while coaching the Hamilton Bulldogs, Ward was named the American Hockey League's Coach of the Year, winning the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award for the 2002–03 AHL season.[1] After two years with the Toronto Roadrunners/Edmonton Road Runners organization,[2] he took over the Iserlohn Roosters of the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga,[3] before embarking on a seven-year stint as assistant coach of the Boston Bruins, contributing to winning the Stanley Cup in 2011.

On June 19, 2014, it was announced that Ward would take over from Hans Zach as head coach for the German DEL pro hockey league's Adler Mannheim for the 2014–15 DEL season.[4] He won the DEL Coach of the Year award and the DEL Championship that same year. Ward's team won the regular season championship and lost only one playoff game on its way to the finals, where the Adler squad defeated ERC Ingolstadt 4–2: Mannheim won the first game of the finals in overtime and then lost two in a row. Three consecutive wins secured the title in the best-of-seven series.

On June 17, 2015, Ward was named an assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils.[5]

On May 31, 2018, the Calgary Flames announced that Ward, along with the Flames' AHL affiliate Stockton Heat's head coach Ryan Huska, would join the Flames as assistants under new head coach Bill Peters.[6]

On November 26, 2019, Brad Treliving, the Flames' general manager, announced that Ward would assume the head coaching duties for the game against the Buffalo Sabres on November 27, while an investigation into allegations of racism and assault against Peters was conducted.[7] Peters resigned on November 29 and Ward became the interim head coach.[8][9]

Personal life

Ward was a Grade 5 elementary school teacher at Trillium Public School in Kitchener, Ontario.

References
  1. Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award award winners at hockeydb.com
  2. "Geoff Ward named Toronto Roadrunners head coach - OurSports Central". www.oursportscentral.com. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  3. EISHOCKEY.INFO. "Iserlohn Roosters: Geoff Ward übernimmt die Roosters - Trainersuche beim Iserlohner DEL-Club beendet". EISHOCKEY INFO. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  4. "Geoff Ward wird neuer Cheftrainer der Adler Mannheim". www.hockeyweb.de/del (in German). hockeyweb.de. June 19, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  5. "Devils name Geoff Ward, Alain Nasreddine as assistant coaches". devils.nhl.com. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  6. "Right Men For The Job". flames.nhl.com. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  7. "Amid investigation, Bill Peters will not coach Flames on Wednesday". ESPN.com. November 26, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  8. "Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters resigns after racial slur allegations". Prince George Citizen. November 29, 2019.
  9. "Peters resigns as Flames head coach". TSN.ca. November 29, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
Preceded by
Bill Peters		 Head coach of the Calgary Flames
2019–present		 Succeeded by
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