Sandman Player of the Month: Ward's exceptional October play puts him among Canada West leaders
November 5, 2025

Sandman Player of the Month: Ward's exceptional October play puts him among Canada West leaders

Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – After posting the best numbers a Griffins goaltender has had over a four-week stretch in Canada West, Eric Ward has been named the Sandman Signature Downtown Edmonton Player of the Month for October.

The honour, which goes to the top Griffins student-athlete across all sports each month, comes with a free night's stay at the Sandman Signature Downtown Edmonton hotel.

The fourth-year goalie was on fire for the Griffins in four October starts, finishing with a .933 save percentage (116 saves on 125 shots), 2.23 GAA and a 2-1-1 record.

Ward is currently second in Canada West in save percentage and third in GAA.

"It was great," said Griffins head coach Zack Dailey of Ward's October run. "He's a big reason why we're off to a pretty good start to the season. He's been solid for us and given us a chance to win the hockey game every time he's been in the net. He's a big part of where we're at in the standings right now."

Stats-wise, Ward's signature performance of the month came against a U SPORTS top-10 team at the time when he stopped 27 of 28 shots in MacEwan's 3-1 win over Mount Royal on Oct. 17. 

But the eye test might pick his Oct. 11 game against Alberta instead where he stopped 38 of 40 to get the Griffins into overtime where they picked up a point. In that one, he stopped five of six breakaways.

"The biggest thing for those is he made the saves you'd want the goalie to make, and he also made the saves you don't expect the goalie to make," said Dailey. "Any time a goalie is saving the ones he's supposed to and then adding on with some incredible saves that are supposed to be going in, there's a good chance you'll have a chance to win hockey games.

"What stood out was just calmness," he added. "He looks calmer in the net to me and that calmness is something players feed off of."

Ward and the Griffins are 4-5-1 on the season, currently sitting third in the West Division standings. They'll have a chance to gain a winning record this weekend when they travel to Regina for a pair of games against the winless Cougars (0-8-0) on Friday (6 p.m. MT) and Saturday (4 p.m. MT, both Canada West TV).

As well as Ward played in October, as with any goalie numbers, credit can also go to his defence in front of him.

"Overall, as a team we've committed to defending hard and playing hard in front of him," said Dailey. "There's definitely room for growth, but that has been a focus and I thought our team has defended pretty well to start the season. 

"Also, the expectation he continues these numbers is a little bit unrealistic because these are some incredible numbers he has. But the expectation that he gives us a chance to win every game is something that's realistic. He's earned those expectations with great play."