Cam Ward is one of five goaltenders invited to the Canadian men's Olympic orientation camp this week. (Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press)Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward missed the first day of the Canadian men's Olympic orientation camp with a sore back, HNIC Radio's Jeff Marek posted on Twitter.
Ward was out on Monday with the same injury he suffered through last year.
"Unfortunately, it's just bad timing," said Ward, who was held out of practice for precautionary reasons after feeling minor back pain.
"I'm not feeling 100 per cent this past week. My back is kind of out of whack for a little bit, but we're being just really cautious with everything. I really wanted to be on the ice, but at the same time you've got to think about the Hurricanes, you've got to think about the NHL."
Ward will be re-evaluated Tuesday morning before a decision will be made on whether the Sherwood Park, Alta., native takes to the ice or receives more treatment.
"I got some really good treatment today, so obviously I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow morning to feel good and feel comfortable to go out there and perform at 100 per cent," said Ward.
"You want to be out there on the ice, but at the same time you don't want to jeopardize hurting it even more because you know in the long haul it's going to be about your regular season with your NHL club that's really going to dictate if you make this team or not."
The Hurricanes netminder experienced similar pain last season, but it didn't affect his performance in the post-season, guiding Carolina to the Eastern Conference final.
"Really I can't put a finger on why it happened," Ward said. "It just did. It's something that I've dealt with before and it's only lasted about a week. It's a similar thing that happened in the playoffs. That was bad timing, this is bad timing."
Ward is one of five invited goaltenders to this week's camp, joining Martin Brodeur, Marc-André Fleury, Roberto Luongo and Steve Mason.
Despite this only being the first practice, Marek is impressed with the flow of the pace.
"Guys are starting to find their hands," he wrote on Twitter. "This is amazing to watch. Just top level talent on display."
