Former Vernon Laker Ward Finds A Home:

This was in my RBC Cup Newsletter e-mail:

RBC CUP 2014 The Excitement Returns!

A publication of the Vernon RBC Cup Host Committee

March 17 2014 Volume 3, Issue 4

Spencer Ward Finds A Home

During his three years playing for the Vernon Lakers, high scoring defenceman Spencer Ward fell in love with Vernon and with a Vernon girl.

"As a player, I always thought it would be nice to live here, but I never thought it would take so long for that to happen. It was phenomenal playing here; that's why I wanted to come back. Hockey is a big deal in this town, an important part of the lively cultural and athletic lifestyle."

After his three years with the Lakers (1992-95), Spencer accepted an athletic scholarship to St. Norbert College where he earned an Education degree. He spent a year in pro hockey and returned to Vernon as a Viper assistant coach for the 2000-01 season. He then moved to the Vancouver area and taught school for 10 years. He's now Vice-principal at Mission Hill school.

He jokes that his greatest claim to fame was never missing a Laker game but the stats tell a different story – his 63 goals and 101 assists in 180 games are terrific numbers for a defenceman. He also points to the 1991 and 1996 championship banners hanging at Kal Tire Place and says that he was "a gap player – I played in that gap when the Vernon teams didn't win the big banner. But the year after I left, the Vipers won, maybe because of my tutelage the previous year!"

These days, as the father of five-year-old twins, he doesn't get much time to play hockey but when he does play – watch out! Last year in three games in the recreational Boston Pizza league, he put up 14 points in three games.

He's enthusiastic about the possibilities offered by the RBC Cup's Adopt-A-School program: "Any time you can teach things through sport, especially our national sport, it's a great thing. Things like teamwork, goal setting, and preparation for success are all important for kids to learn."

Ever competitive, Spencer Ward is not entirely happy with the Jr. A league his school has been assigned – "the NOJHL in Northern Ontario is set in a beautiful part of Canada, but the problem is that there hasn't been a team from that league at the RBC Cup in years." However, he might take some consolation from the season enjoyed by the NOJHL's Soo Thunderbirds whose 48 regular season wins have placed them # 1 in
the national Jr. "A" rankings.