That's my undrafted nhler
One story they all talk about is about Malik.
Seven years ago, Ward played for the Nashville Predators, having finally made the NHL full time in his late 20s. He signed up to be a Big Brother in the community and was paired with Johnson, a troubled 12-year-old who grew up in a neighbourhood where drug deals and shootings were common.
He was expelled from school multiple times. He needed help.
“This was a big undertaking,” Predators general manager David Poile recalled. “This wasn’t show up and make an appearance.”
Ward took Johnson to hockey games. He took him out for pizza. He worked with him on his homework, when he happened to be in school. He sat on the family’s porch, a millionaire pro athlete, in that bad part of town, simply talking and being a friend.
Johnson became an adopted son of the team, even after Ward signed with the Washington Capitals and left town in 2011. Another staffer became his Big Brother. Rebecca King, the team’s director of community relations, became his “second mother.” Johnson landed a job with the Predators, filling water bottles and helping the training staff. He improved.
Two weeks ago, with the Sharks locked in a tight conference finals series with the St. Louis Blues, Johnson – now 19 – graduated from Lighthouse Christian School. Ward had paid his tuition to one of the top private schools in Tennessee for years, investing more than $10,000 so that his Little Brother could become the first member of his family to graduate from high school.
Wherever he goes, Joel Ward leaves a lasting and meaningful impression
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