Hockey

CALGARY - Although he missed the first practice of the Canadian men's Olympic orientation camp with a back injury, Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward was keeping his spirits up.

"Unfortunately, it's just bad timing,'' said Ward, who was held out of practice Monday for precautionary measurements after experiencing minor back discomfort.

"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.''

The native of Sherwood Park, Alta., was looking forward to blocking shots fired at him by many of the top forwards and defenceman vying for spots on Team Canada.

"I'm trying to keep a really happy face,'' said Ward, who captured the Conn Smyth Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs when the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2006. "I'm still really happy to be here, to get a chance to meet the players and get a better understanding about what the process is of going to the Olympics.''

Ward will be re-evaluated on Tuesday morning when it will be determined if he'll take part in on-ice sessions or get 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, who's one of five goalies attending the four-day evaluation camp.

"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.''

Ward also experienced back pain last season, but it wasn't anything that kept him out of Carolina's lineup for long periods of time.

"Really I can't put a finger on why it happened,'' he 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.''