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OHL Best Of Both Worlds CHL Network CHL on Rogers Sportsnet ADT Canada Russia Challenge Home Hardware Top Prospects MasterCard Memorial Cup Teams Barrie Colts Belleville Bulls Brampton Battalion Erie Otters Guelph Storm Kingston Frontenacs Kitchener Rangers London Knights Mississauga IceDogs Oshawa Generals Ottawa 67s Owen Sound Attack Peterborough Petes Plymouth Whalers Saginaw Spirit Sarnia Sting Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds Sudbury Wolves St Michaels Majors Windsor Spitfires Development Environment Education Be A ProspectLeague DirectoryTeamsContact UsPriority SelectionUnder ArmourOHL CupGatoradeOHL Scholarship Program Aided Ward John McGourty NHLcom Nashville Predators forward Joel Ward took an unusual route to the National Hockey League After playing four Ontario Hockey League seasons with Owen Sound he attended the University of Prince Edward Island where he was team rookie of the year and then a threetime team MVP before again pursuing his goal of being a professional hockey playerWard earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology grew stronger and smarter and made his way to the NHL after 2 12 seasons with the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League Ward could have played in the ECHL when he finished his junior career but he felt that the college route offered more options In November the late Ed Chynoweth was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame Chynoweth was the former president of the Western Hockey League and also the Canadian Hockey League the umbrella organization of three top Canadian junior leagues and one of his greatest accomplishments was instituting a college scholarship program for majorjunior playersWard and many others would not have been able to attend college without the scholarship money There are 164 OHL graduates getting scholarship money to attend Canadian colleges and 185 OHL alums are playing Canadian Interuniversity Sport hockey said Joe Birch OHL director of recruitment and education The OHL will distribute more than $800000 this year in scholarship money Its Birchs job to alert Ontario parents to the scholarship money available to those players who wish to go to collegeI give 4050 minormidget seminars every year and I share Joels story almost every time Birch said We are very proud of him just as Joel is proud of himself You wont meet a better person and he has lived out everything we talk about in our leagueWe really believe that the OHL offers the best opportunity for a player to develop for professional hockey When a player leaves our league he has the opportunity to finish his education while continuing to develop as a hockey player The quality of play in Canadian college hockey is excellentJoel Ward is an example of someone who had professional opportunities after junior but instead worked his way toward a degree paid for by the scholarship programRay McKel...