Silver Knights add Heward, Ward to coaching staff

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The Vegas Golden Knights have announced that Jamie Heward and Joel Ward have been hired as assistant coaches for the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.

Heward and Ward join head coach Manny Viveiros on the Silver Knights’ coaching staff.

Heward, 49, has spent the last eight seasons in the Western Hockey League, serving as an associate coach for the Vancouver Giants (2018-20) and assistant coach and director of player development with the Swift Current Broncos (2012-18).

A first-round draft pick by Pittsburgh in 1989, Heward played 18 seasons professionally, including 394 games in the NHL and 206 contests in the AHL. He won a Calder Cup championship with the Philadelphia Phantoms in 1998, and was a two-time First Team AHL All-Star, capturing the Eddie Shore Award as the league’s top defenseman in 1997-98.

Ward, 39, played 13 pro seasons from 2005 to 2018, including 726 games in the NHL with Minnesota, Nashville, Washington and San Jose.

Undrafted following four seasons in the OHL and four years at the University of Prince Edward Island, Ward spent his first three pro seasons in the AHL with the Houston Aeros, skating in 209 contests.