Geoff Ward (ice hockey)

Geoff Ward
Ward in 2007
Born (1962-04-08) April 8, 1962
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Current NL coach Lausanne HC
Coached for Calgary Flames
Anaheim Ducks
New Jersey Devils
Boston Bruins
Coaching career 1989–present

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

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] On September 14, 2020, Ward was formally named head coach.[10]

On March 4, 2021, Ward was relieved of his duties as head coach after an 11–11–2 start to the season for the Flames.[11][12] He was hired by Anaheim as an assistant to head coach Dallas Eakins on June 15, 2021.[13]

Ward assumed the position of head coach of the Lausanne Hockey Club in May 2022. He led the team through the 2022–23 season in the Swiss ice hockey league National League. He had a significant impact on the team's development and contributed to its success during this period, leading to an appearance in the National League finals the following year.

Ward was named the National League's coach of the year in 2023-24, and after leading Lausanne to a first-place finish in the 2024-25 regular season, won the award for the second straight season.[14]

Head coaching record

NHL

TeamYearRegular seasonPostseason
GWLOTLPtsFinishWLWin%Result
CGY2019–20 42*24153(51)4th in Pacific55.500Lost in First Round (DAL)
CGY2020–21 2411112(24)(fired)————
Total6635265  55.5001 playoff appearance
  • Shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2019–20 season. Playoffs were played in August 2020 with a different format.

Other leagues

TeamYearLeagueRegular seasonPostseason
GWLTOTLPtsFinishWLWin%Result
KIT1994–95OHL 4212273—(27)5th in Central14.200Lost in Division Quarterfinals
6635283—732nd in Central57.417Lost in Quarterfinals 6635283—73second in Central57.417Lost in Quarterfinals
KIT1996–97OHL 66342210—781st in Central67.462Lost in Semifinals
KIT1997–98OHL 66272910—643rd in Central24.333Lost in Division Quarterfinals
GUE1998–99OHL 6844222—901st in Midwest65.545Lost in Conference Semifinals
ARK1999–2000ECHL 26520—1(11)(fired)————
HAM2002–03AHL 35161351(38)1st in Canadian149.609Lost in Calder Cup Final
TOR2003–04AHL 80353483815th in North12.333Lost in Division Qualifier
EDM2004–05AHL 803233—15796th in North———Missed playoffs
ISE2006–07DEL 522424—47011th———Missed playoffs
AM2014–15DEL 523614—21071st123.800Won DEL Championship
LHC2022–23NL 522422—67111th———Missed playoffs
LHC2023–24NL 523016—6913rd117.611Lost in Finals
LHC2024–25NL 523414—4911st---Ongoing

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. July 16, 2003. 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. Archived from the original on June 22, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Devils name Geoff Ward, Alain Nasreddine as assistant coaches". devils.nhl.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Right Men For The Job". flames.nhl.com. May 31, 2018. 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.
  10. ↑ "Ward named head coach". NHL.com. September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Flames name Daryl Sutter head coach". NHL.com. March 4, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Flames re-hire Sutter as head coach, fire Ward". TSN.ca. March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Ducks Name Ward, Stothers as Assistant Coaches". nhl.com/ducks. June 15, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Geoff Ward Voted Top Coach In Switzerland; Goalie Stéphane Charlin MVP". TheHockeyNews.com. March 4, 2025. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
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