In the 1993–94 season, Ward guided the Waterloo Siskins to an MWJHL championship and then served a five-year stint as head coach of the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Hockey League.

Ward's first coaching job in Europe came in the 2000–01 season, when he worked for German second-division side EC Bad Nauheim.

[1] After two years with the Toronto Roadrunners/Edmonton Road Runners organization,[2] he took over the Iserlohn Roosters of the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga,[3] before embarking on a seven-year stint as assistant coach of the Boston Bruins, contributing to winning the Stanley Cup in 2011.

Ward's team won the regular season championship and lost only one playoff game on its way to the finals, where the Adler squad defeated ERC Ingolstadt 4–2: Mannheim won the first game of the finals in overtime and then lost two in a row.

He had a significant impact on the team's development and contributed to its success during this period, leading to an appearance in the National League finals the following year.