During his three-year junior career in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Red Deer Rebels, he was selected 25th overall by the Hurricanes in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

[8] Ward spent the 1999–00 season with the Sherwood Park Kings U18 AAA team and finished with a 3.57 goals against average (GAA).

[9][10] He then participated in the Rebels' 2000 training camp and preseason, where he impressed the team's general manager and head coach Brent Sutter.

[12][13] While Ward was ultimately reassigned to the Sherwood Park Kings, he was called up to the Rebels on February 1, 2001 to back up goaltender Shane Bendera.

[14] Prior this callup, Ward was selected for the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League North Division first all-star team.

[22] Due in part to Ward's dominant rookie season, the Rebels traded starting goaltender Bendera to the Kelowna Rockets in mid-December.

[28] He was subsequently named to the Eastern Conference All-Star Team and nominated for the Del Wilson Trophy as the WHL's top goaltender.

He was an honourable mention for the WHL's Player of the Week as he helped the Rebels advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the Brandon Wheat Kings.

[36][37] One of the reason for his higher-than-expected draft selection was because the father of a Hurricanes scout lived in Red Deer and closely followed Ward's season.

[39] He later credited his extra time spent with Archie Irbe at the Hurricanes main camp as the reason for his strong start to the 2002–03 season.

[44] After concluding the regular season with a league-leading 40 wins,[43] Ward was named the inaugural winner of the Western Major Junior Hockey Writers Association's Goaltender of the Year award.

[46] Despite being pushed to the brink of elimination, Ward stopped 25 shots in Game 7 to help the Rebels advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

[51] While he played in the Hurricanes preseason games, head coach Paul Maurice said Ward was at training camp solely for the learning experience and would be returned to the Rebels for the 2003–04 season.

[54] Despite missing a week of games due to illness, Ward maintained a 4–0–1 record through the month to help the Rebels clinch second place in the Central Division.

[57] In the 2004 WHL playoffs, Ward helped the Rebels reach the Eastern Conference finals by recording three shutouts, a 1.85 GAA and .945 SV%.

[61] Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Ward was assigned to Carolina's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lowell Lock Monsters, for the season.

[64] Ward finished his rookie season as the Lowell Lock Monsters franchise leader in wins, GAA, and SV%[65] and was named to the AHL's All-Rookie Team.

[66] Once the lockout ended, Ward joined the Hurricanes for the 2005–06 NHL season and was expected to serve in a primarily backup role to veteran goaltender Martin Gerber.

[69] As Gerber remained injured, Ward became the Hurricanes starting goaltender and maintained a 3–1–0 record, a 2.05 goals against average, and a .932 save percentage.

[79] When the Hurricanes qualified for the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs, Gerber was named the starting goaltender for their first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens.

[81] In his playoffs debut, Ward made 20 saves through 67 minutes as he helped the Hurricanes tie the game and push the Canadiens to double overtime.

[89][90] Ward continued to maintain his role as the Hurricanes starter and played nearly every game of the Eastern Conference finals against the Buffalo Sabres.

The Hurricanes, however, would reach the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2008–09 season before bowing out to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

On November 8, 2009, in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Ward was injured when he was cut on the leg by the skate of opposing forward Rick Nash.

[98] After returning from his injury, Ward finished the season with an 18–23–5 record, a 2.69 GAA and .916 save percentage as the Hurricanes failed to qualify for the post-season.

Ward was selected to participate in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game, along with teammates Eric Staal, Jamie McBain, and Jeff Skinner.

[107] As a member of the Red Deer Rebels, Ward attended Team Canada's tryout camp for the 2003 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships but failed to make the final roster.

[108] He was re-invited to Team Canada's tryout camp for the 2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships but was again cut before their final roster was announced.

[111] Ward's performance in his NHL rookie season earned him consideration on a list of 81 candidates to play for Team Canada in the 2006 Winter Olympics.