RALEIGH, N.C. _ If it was Cam Ward's last game at PNC Arena, and he hopes that it wasn't, it ended well.
The Carolina Hurricanes goalie, who has experienced so many highs in his 13 seasons in Raleigh, was engulfed by teammates Saturday after a 3-2 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning to end the season. They first congratulated Elias Lindholm, who scored the winner, then quickly swarmed around Ward.
Hours before the game, in a private ceremony, Ward was presented a golden stick to honor his 300th career victory, which came in December against the Vegas Golden Knights in Las Vegas. After the win Saturday, his teammates signed Ward's blocker by the bench as they left the ice as a season-ending memento.
Ward is due to become an unrestricted free agent in July. The Canes still are without a general manager after new owner Tom Dundon stripped Ron Francis of that job. No one knows what personnel moves the Canes, under Dundon or whomever, will take.
"My contract is up and the uncertainty and the unknown of what's going to happen, it can be scary at times," Ward said Saturday.
The Canes could offer Ward a one- or two-year extension and the chance to stay. Or they could move in a new direction with their goaltending.
On one hand, Ward is 34 and has squeezed so much out of his career. He has won a Stanley Cup with the Canes, being named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 2006 as playoffs MVP. He has won 318 games, all with Carolina. He has been well-compensated. He could step away from the game and not feel many regrets.
On the other hand, he's just 34 and he still likes to compete, to win. He finished this season with a 23-14-4 record, with a respectable goals-against average of 2.73 and save percentage of .906 after his 32 saves against Tampa Bay.
"Cam's been a rock for us this year," forward Justin Williams said. "Regardless of what people say or what's written about him, he's a rock for us."
When Francis signed Scott Darling to a four-year, $16.6 million deal last year, Ward accepted the plan for Darling to be the team's No. 1 goalie. Ward said all the right things, noting at this stage of his career he was willing to give up his "franchise goalie" tag, take on more of a backup role and be a mentor while Darling got his first shot at being a No. 1.
That role reversal was to undergo a reversal. By late December, Ward was starting the majority of the games as Darling seemingly struggled with everything _ his conditioning, his confidence, his technique, winning games.
"I can only control what I can control. I've kind of learned that throughout my career," Ward said Saturday. "Just control what you can on the ice and help this team win.
"It was a different role for me this year. I mean, I loved playing with Scott. He's a great guy and we were hoping we would be the tandem to get us to the playoffs. Obviously that didn't happen and that's disappointing for him and I."
Ward had become conditioned to success in the Stanley Cup playoffs _ the Canes' stirring Cup run in 2006, then reaching the Eastern Conference finals in 2009 _ when it all went away. His playoff experience and 4-0 record in Games 7s meant little as the Canes failed to reach the playoffs year after year.
In 2011, the Canes went into the final game of the regular season, against Tampa Bay, needing a win on home ice to clinch a playoff spot. The Lightning won 6-2 _ as it turns out all these years later, the Canes' last, best chance of making it.
This season, inconsistency was a season-long malady. The Canes' longest winning streak was four games. They could never get on a little run and stockpile points.
"It's disappointing," Ward said. "Obviously we wanted to be in the playoffs and were expecting big things out of our hockey club this year and fell short. It's tough. I wish we were more upbeat and talking about us going into the playoffs."
Ward signed a two-year contract extension in June 2016 that paid him $3.5 million in 2016-17 and $3.1 million this season. It's possible the two sides could find the right price and term, keeping him in Raleigh and wearing No. 30 for the Hurricanes.
"This team was fun to play with," Ward said. "It's a good group of guys."
