Looking for the quintessential Nashville Predator? Look no further than Joel Ward.
When it comes to hockey, the Toronto native is a working-class hero. He is a perfect cog in Predators head coach Barry Trotz's defence-first system, a player pulled from the bargain bin by general manager David Poile, a super-shopper thanks to the Preds' modest budget, who somehow moved into a tie for the goal-scoring lead in this year's NHL playoffs.
Just ask Trotz. Someone wondered if he saw this coming and Trotz said, "If I said yeah … " paused and then did a perfect Jackie Gleason double-take.
But the facts are this: Ward's two third-period goals on Saturday night gave the Predators a 4-3 win to keep them alive in the Western Conference series against the Vancouver Canucks. They also tied Ward with the postseason goal-scoring lead at seven and made an instant hero out of a 30-year-old journeyman who found his scoring touch as the Predators' offence was reeling after Steve Sullivan and Jerred Smithson were lost to injuries and Martin Erat and Sergei Kostitsyn, the Predators' leading point-getters in the regular season, went missing. He now has an improbable seven goals and five assists in 11 playoff games.
Which means the Predators have a chance to force a seventh and deciding game in their Western Conference semi-final with the Canucks, who lead 3-2, on Monday night at home, where Nashville is suddenly the hottest hockey market in the NHL.
So, "yeah," Trotz said, Ward is a typical Predator.
"He's a guy who doesn't get a lot of fanfare," the coach added. "But if you watch him close, he gets a lot of stuff done.
"There's a lot of substance to his game in a lot of areas. Therefore, he has a lot of production."
And that game in Vancouver, which was an intense battle over the last two periods, was something the 6-foot-1, 218-pound winger specializes in. Just like someone on the Canucks who is getting a lot of attention these days for his determination.
"It was his style of game, it was a grinding type of game and that's what Joel is, he a grinding type of player," Trotz said of Ward. "He played with a lot of determination, just like Ryan Kesler."
If Ward did not have an extra share of determination, he would never have attracted the attention of Poile. This is a fellow who spent four seasons in Canadian university hockey, at the University of Prince Edward Island, after his junior career petered out after four seasons with Owen Sound in the Ontario Hockey League. Those who make the NHL out of Canadian university hockey can be counted on one hand.
Ward landed in the American Hockey League as a free agent with the Houston Aeros. The Minnesota Wild brought him to the NHL as a free agent at the age of 26 and didn't blink when Poile signed him to a Predators contract a year later in July, 2008.
Through all those travels, the most Ward ever scored in the regular season was 26 goals in 2000-01, his final season in junior. His best season in university saw him score 16 goals in 28 games and he managed 10 in the 2010-11 season for the Predators.
So, yes, Ward says, he has dreamed of being the guy getting all the attention in the playoffs.
"I always enjoyed playing in these moments, regardless of what league I was in," Ward said. "The playoffs are always fun and I love them. It's always nice to step up and be that guy."
As for the dream of playing in the NHL, Ward says that never died, no matter how far away the league seemed from PEI or Houston or any of his stops.
"A lot of people ask that question and honestly I never let the dream go," he said. "I said if I can get to the American Hockey League level after I was done college, the sky was the limit from there."
Ward says he isn't trying to think too much about his recent success but he does think he is a typical Predator.
"Yeah, I guess so," he said. "Predator hockey is guys working hard at both ends of the ice, just trying to be a factor.
"I'm just trying to enjoy the moment and not over-think things. I'm just trying to keep it simple. There's no secret. It's been going to the front of the net, looking for rebounds and tips, capitalizing on my chances."