Height: 5-11
Weight: 175
Shoot: R
Born: 12 Sep 1944, Cornwall ON
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1972-73 | New York | |||||||||||
| 1973-74 | Vancouver | |||||||||||
| Los Angeles | ||||||||||||
| Cleveland | ||||||||||||
| Totals (3 teams) | ||||||||||||
| 1974-75 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| 1975-76 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| 1976-77 | Minnesota | |||||||||||
| Winnipeg | ||||||||||||
| Calgary | ||||||||||||
| Totals (3 teams) | ||||||||||||
| Totals: |
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The Lamplighter Does His Thing • by Larry Bortstein • The Hockey Spectator • January 19, 1973
in his last game before the first WHA All-Star Classic in Quebec, to which he was a unanimous selection, Ron Ward became the first player of the three-month-old circuit to score five goals in a single game. Ward's five-goal burst shot the Raiders past the Ottawa Nationals here, 9-4, Thursday night, January 4. Ward has had several scoring milestones this first WHA season. He was the first player in the league to reach the 20-goal mark, for example. But his five-goal bombardment against young Ottawa goalie Gilles Gratton represented Ron's first markers in 10 games. Ward last had lit the lamp during a 9-1 rout of the Quebec Nordiques December 13 at Madison Square Garden. Ron scored his first two goals against Ottawa only 35 seconds apart late in the opening poriod to open the game's scoring. He scored two more goals in the second period as the Raiders opened up a 6-3 lead. After Ward scored his fifth goal of the night at the 4:34 mark of the third period, the Garden crowd of 4,927 clamored for Ron to keep shooting. Ward had a couple outstanding scoring opportunities in the closing minutes but failed to equal the major league record of six goals in a game. Two National Hockey League players have scored six: Syd Howe of the Detroit Ked Wings, February 3 1944, against the New York Rangers, and Red Berenson, when he was with the St. Louis Blues, November 7 1968, against the Philadelpbia Flyers. Though Ward badn't scored a goal in 10 games prior to his record-breaking splurge, he had maintained his hold on the league scoring lead by virtue of a large assist count. After his five goals against Ottawa, Ron regained the WHA goal-scoring leadership from New England's Tommy Webster, 33-32. A disappointed Webster said in Quebec the night before the All-Star Game that he "couldn't believe it" when he heard that Ward had scored five. "I was kind of ticked off," Webster laughed. "I mean, I was four goals ahead of him and then in one game he goes right past me again." Ward's achievement was more rousingly heralded in Quebec than it was in the city where he plays. The back page headline of the New York Dally News the morning after his five-goal game was "Ralders may get Derek", pertaining to the round of talks that have been going on within the league to settle the question of Derek Sanderson's status. It was the first time the Raidors had been recognized by the huge headline on the back page of the News, the nation's largest-selling daily. But many people around the club believed Ward should have gotten more space in the paper than a player not on the club. The New York Times diagnosed that Ward's five goals were the result of the game played "loosely and carelessly". Meanwhile, the Journal de Quebec, a French-language tabloid, ran a picture of Ward on its front page the morning after his five goals. Accompanying the picture, which appeared in the lower left corner of the opening page, ran the simple headline "Cinq But". |
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Prologue to a Trade • by Kent Gilchrist • The Hockey Spectator • November 16, 1973
It's looking more and more as if there's something about Ron Ward that Vancouver hockey teams don't like, no matter what league they play in. On October 26th, the Vancouver Blazers traded him to the Los Angeles Sharks in exchange for goaltender George Gardner, like Ward a former Canuck. Yes, Wardie was working with his second major league club here until the trade. He was with the National Hockey League Canucks two years ago. Last year, though, was that "fat" season in New York. He was the second highest scorer in the WHA with the Golden Blades (nee Raiders), with 51 goals and 67 assists. With the Canucks, Ward was called a penalty-killing specialist; he scored two goals. The NHL team wasn't disappointed to see him move to the WHA. He made his supposedly triumphant return when Blazers traded the league's scoring king, Andre Lacroix, Don Herriman and negotiation rights to Bernie Parent for him and Goalie Peter Donnelly. With the Blazers, Ward was supposed to be a called Superstar. As it turned out, you could dub him Bench Warmer. And that was the problem. Just prior to the trade, the stocky centre said he was discouraged. General Manager and Coach Phil Watson said Ward had been discouraging. And it was just a couple months ago that Watson was crowing about how the Blazers had got the best of the New York trade. And saying how happy Ron Ward was about coming back to Vancouver. Ward's problems started in training camp. He managed to parlay the flu and bronchitis into a 10-day layoff. He never in a catch up. Watson said Ward would have to work himself into shape during practices. Ward said he needed game condition ice time, and lots of it. "I want to produce, but I need ice time," said Ward emphaticially. "He's (Watson) got no confidence in me. I have a feeling something is going on. I don't want to be pampered. I want to play and I want to win. But how can a guy play when he starts thinking about all this. I agree it's been a lousy performance on my part, but when you have a guy who doesn't use you right, it's pretty tough. And it's his (Watson's) line saying you have to play in games to get in shape." Part of the problem was that the Blazers had seven centers on their roster. "What does he do, go with somebody who scored 51 goals last year or a kid?" asked Ward. His question was answered in Blazers' 7-4 home loss to Toronto Toros. Watson used him for more than a period before benching him. His replacement was a kid named Jim Adair, who promptly engineered two Vancouver goals in the space of five minutes. And Adair has been bothered by a sore shoulder. Watson didn't deny he was disenchanted with Ward, but said he thought Ward had the ability to help the team. "Who the hell are you going to get to replace his 118 points? And another thing is," he said when asked about a possible trade, "who's going to take over his big salary." Well, the Sharks were, and the WHA's first home-grown star was sent packing again. Once he got to Los Angeles, Ward wasted little time proving his theory about needing game ice time. Skating a regular shift on a line with Ron Walters and Gary Veneruzzo, he picked up two assists. It was unlikely things could have continued much longer as they were going here. Neither Ward nor Watson left much room for conciliation. Ward had played painfully little. Probably less than he did when he was with the Canucks. He hadn't scored a point. Besides being discouraging, it was embarrassing. |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Guide to Pro Hockey, 1975-76 (by Reyn Davis)
Chronic worrier who fails to realize how much he worries other teams ... Not a good skater, but uncanny around the net ... Had six game winners among his 30 goals in 1974-75 ... Nickname in "Magic" because of his knack for scoring ... Excellent lacrosse player ... Scored on 14% of his shots to lead the Crusaders in accuracy last season ... Much travelled in hockey, with eight stops in eight years behind him ... Owns and operates an ice-cream stand in Cornwall during the off-season |
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Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1976-77 (by Dan Proudfoot)
There's absolutely nothing fancy about Ron Ward, until he's within 20 feet of a net. Then and only then does it become apparent why his teammates call him Magic. From the very start of the WHA, Ward has been among the league's dominant scorers. In the first year he was the star of the New York Raiders, scoring as many as five goals in one game and ending up with 51. Entering the 1976-77 schedule he stood sixth among the top scorers in WHA history. And he does it all with a sharp eye and fast reflexes around the goalmouth. He's not an easy skater, but when he gets within range he makes up for it. Old Magic was at his best again in 1975-76 when he enjoyed another five-goal game, leading Crusaders from behind 8-2 to defeat Toronto Toros 10-9. He finished the season as the team's leading scorer with 32 goals and 50 assists: his best points total since 1972-73. |
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