Joel Ward announces his retirement.

Ward hangs up his skates.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Joel Ward announces his retirement.
Kostas Lymperopoulos/CSM/Zuma

On Monday morning long time National Hockey League veteran Joel Ward announced that he would officially be stepping away from the sport of hockey, announcing his retirement in an article he penned for the Player's Tribune. The announcement came as little surprise to me as a fan given that we have not seen Ward compete in the National Hockey League for two years now, however Ward revealed in his article that although he was not playing in the NHL he was working hard to make his way back.

From Ward:

And this point, right here, it’s the end.

I’m retiring today.

I know I didn’t play the last two years, but I tried. I did. I wish I could have gone out in a bit of a different way.

It is sad to hear that a guy who gave so many years to the National Hockey League admit that he has regrets about the way his career is coming to an end, but there is a lot to smile about here for Ward as well. The man admits that he at one point had doubts he would ever get to play even a single game in the National Hockey League and of course we now know that he did far more than that, appearing in 726 games split between the Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks and recording 133 goals and 171 assists for a combined 304 points over that stretch.

Again from Ward:

But, you know, just thinking about it all — all 726 games — I realized something.

Who am I to wish for any more time?

I got what I wanted. I’m one of the lucky ones.

The greatest takeaway from Ward's career however will no doubt be that he lived up to his father's expectations. Ward's father, who passed away when Joel was just 14, always believed he would make the NHL one day and now Ward can retire happy knowing that his father was right. Ward believes that his father still watches over him and his mom to this day, and if he does no doubt he is very proud of his boy. 

"You were right, DadYou were right," wrote Ward.

Source: