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Tuesday, December 7, 1999
Ward aims to profit from Habs injury woes
MONTREAL (CP) -- Shayne Corson, the acting captain of the Montreal Canadiens, grinned in both amusement and admiration while rookie Jason Ward gave a television interview in fluent French."Way to go, Wardo -- your high school's paying off," Corson finally said, drawing a blush from the latest young player called up from Quebec of the American Hockey League due to the Canadiens' frightful run of injuries.
Ward, 20, was preparing for only his third NHL game on Tuesday night against the Calgary Flames but he had already made an impression, both on his teammates and the local French-language media.
He scored a pretty goal in his first big-league game, deking New York Rangers goaltender Mike Richter and slipping the puck into the open net last week and then described it in both of Canada's official languages.
"Living in Quebec City really helped my French," said Ward, who took French immersion classes in elementary school in his home town of Chapleau in northern Ontario, a bilingual community.
"My mom (Irene Fortin) likes that because her side of the family is French. They're excited about it."
He also found his confidence on the ice in Quebec and now hopes to profit from the playing time he's getting in Montreal.
"They always say, don't get too high or too low," said Ward, the Canadiens first-round draft pick, 11th overall, in 1997. "I'm just trying to play a solid game.
"I scored a goal in my first game, but there's still a lot to achieve. This is my chance to show what I can do and the way to open eyes is to work hard. If I'm skating hard, I get opportunities."
The six-foot-two 195-pound forward may not have seen NHL action so quickly had it not been for an injury bug that has had a ripple effect throughout the organization.
"A guy would get hurt in Montreal and another guy would get called up from Quebec and then a guy would get called up from the East Coast league (for Quebec)," said Ward, one of five players in Montreal who started the season in Quebec.
"That's part of the reality of that league. But as a team, we played well whether guys were in or out."
In their last game, the Canadiens had 10 regulars sidelined. Winger Benoit Brunet and defenceman Patrice Brisebois, both returning from back injuries, were to play their first games of the season against Calgary.
Centre Sergei Zholtok is close to returning from a badly bruised cheek.
Ward, a member of Canada's national junior team the last two years, was not upset when other forwards were called up ahead of him. He was not impressive in training camp and had a slow start to his first season as a pro.
"I had to make a player of myself in the AHL," said Ward, who saw AHL action during the playoffs last spring. "I wasn't doing that at the start of the year.
"Then, in the last 10 games, I started to put it in and they noticed it. I had to prove myself in that league first."
He also helps out off the ice, taking some of the broadcast media interview pressure off his French-Canadian teammates, who, on a team formerly known as the Flying Frenchmen, now only number six.
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