AS a highly-skilled right wing, Jimmy Ward was one of the initial group of elite players on the ice that the Lakehead has ever produced.
Born in September of 1906, Ward initially started his junior career with the Kenora Thistles.
Joining his hometown Fort William Forts for the 1926-27 campaign, he and another future NHLer, Tommy Cook, helped their side upend the two-time defending Allan Cup-champion Port Arthur Ports to claim the local senior hockey title.
Heading out on the western Canadian play-downs, the Forts took a two-game total-goal quarter-final match-up vs. a squad from Winnipeg by a 5-4 count.
Next up, they outscored Weyburn, Sask., 20-7 in semifinal play before going on to dispatch Trail, B.C., in a two-game sweep (4-2, 4-1) to win the western title.
However, they fell just short in the Allan Cup final against the Toronto Varsity Grads in a hotly-contested series, two games to one, with one tie.
Ward did his part though pacing Fort William with 16 goals and three assists in 10 games played.
Also of note, the result allowed Toronto to represent Canada instead at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland where the Varsity Grads went on to win gold, outscoring Sweden, Great Britain and Swiss 38-0 in the medal round.
With his solid offensive numbers, Ward caught the eye of the National Hockey League’s Montreal Maroons, who signed him as a free agent in the summer of 1927.
Beginning his NHL career that fall, he went on to play 11 seasons with the Maroons, appearing in 492 contests while notching 143 goals and dishing out 125 assists for 268 points.
He appeared in the most games played for the franchise and registered the second-highest point total in the 14-year history of the club.
As part of his other accomplishments with the Maroons, Ward helped Montreal win the Stanley Cup in 1935.
He was also a two-time NHL All-Star, taking part in the first-ever event held in 1934 at Maple Leaf Gardens, in what was the Ace Bailey Benefit Game.
This was a fundraiser for the Toronto forward who had been injured by the infamous Eddie Shore in a contest between the Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins back in December of 1933.
Ward had an assist for the NHL All-Stars in a 7-3 defeat.
Ward also took part in the 1937 event, which was held to support the family of legendary Montreal Canadiens forward Howie Morenz, who had tragically passed away at age 34.
The ‘Stratford Streak’, or ‘Mitchell Meteor, as he was dubbed, Morenz was a star in the league for 15 seasons.
In that match-up featuring the NHL All-Stars against players from the two Montreal-based squads held on November 3, 1937, Ward collected another assist, won 6-5 by the NHL selects.
Coaching the winning side in the game was another local legend, Jack Adams. He earned the bench nod after guiding the Detroit Red Wings to their first-ever Stanley Cup crown in 1936.
A popular player in his time with the Maroons, Ward was recruited by the St. Lawrence Starch Company Limited in Toronto to be an anglophone spokesperson in Montreal for their popular Bee Hive hockey card promotion.
Not only was he among those to have cards distributed, he was featured in Bee Hive ads in Quebec and other areas of the country during his tenure with the Maroons.
Having his contract sold to the rival Canadiens in 1938, he went on to play one more season in the NHL.
One final stop as player-coach of the IAHL’s New Haven Eagles saw him conclude his playing career.
Settling down in Portland, Oregon, Ward served as head coach and later GM of that town’s Pacific Coast Hockey League franchise for five years, winning 129 games in that span.
He then wrapped up his time in the sport helping the Portland Amateur Hockey Association get off the ground in 1960.
For his accomplishments, Jimmy Ward was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.