Ward willing to accept added pressure

With a quick stroke of the pen, Canes goaltender Cam Ward signed a new six-year contract that will pay him an average of $6.3 million a season.

But while Ward is financially secure, he also is fully aware what a big contract entails.

"I realize I'm being paid to be an elite goaltender," he said today. "I realize there's added pressure that always comes with something like this.

"I do not want to shy away from it.  If anything, I want to rise to the occasion."

Some would say Ward, the Canes' first-round draft pick in 2002,  already has reached that status. He's won a Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy for being the playoff MVP. He's set franchise records for wins and shutouts in a season. He may play for Team Canada in the upcoming Vancouver Olympics.

Last season, as the Canes surged into the playoffs, Ward was named the NHL's player of the month for March. The top player, not just the top goaltender.

"There's no other goaltender in hockey I'd rather have," general manager Jim Rutherford said. "To come into the league like he did, to win a Cup and the Conn Smythe, I don't know many who have done that.

"Right from the first day of his first training camp with us we knew we had something special. Because at that time you could see how fundamentally strong he was. And it was just a matter of time in developing and going through the process." 

Rutherford said that with Eric Staal and both Ward signed to long-term contracts, "We now have the two cornerstones of our team wrapped up for several years. 

"Regardless in good times or bad times, we can always build around Cam and Eric. Even in troubled times or a bad season, with two like that it should not take long to get back on track."

Ward, 25, was in the final year of a contract signed in May 2007 that will pay him $3.5 million this season. Under his new contract, his salary will escalate from $5 million in the 2010-11 season to $6.8 million in the 2015-16 season.

"I'm happy to be able to call Raleigh my home for the next six years and I can just focus on hockey," Ward said. 

Ward said he was happy that a new deal could be arranged before the season begins. The Canes face the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday in the season opener.

"If there was a deal to be done, we wanted to get it done before the regular season," Ward said. "Come Friday my focus is on hockey and nothing but.  I'm glad it's behind me now.

"I'm not going to get complacent. I want to get better and better and be one of those elite goaltenders in the NHL."