Jeff Ware (born May 19, 1977) is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) defenceman who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers. He was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round (15th overall) of the 1995 NHL entry draft.
Hockey career As a youth, Ware played in the 1991 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Marlboros minor ice hockey, which the team won. Ware played major junior hockey for the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League, where he captained the team for the 1995–96 season. He won the league championship in 1997. During his junior career, he won a gold medal with Team Canada's Under-18 team in 1994 in Mexico City. He went on to win another gold medal with Team Canada at the 1997 World Juniors hockey tournament in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Ware in the first round, 15th overall, at the 1995 NHL entry draft. He played in 16 games with the Maple Leafs, never scoring a point. Ware requested a trade from Toronto in 1998, due to mismanagement of the Maple Leafs AHL affiliate, which was initially denied. Eventually, on February 15, 1999, Ware was traded to the Florida Panthers for forward David Nemirovsky. On July 1, 2000, Florida declined to offer Ware a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. The Panthers exposed him for selection in the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft, but he was not taken by either of the expansion teams. He played 21 total career games in the NHL, tallying one assist.
Ware would subsequently play parts of two seasons with the Syracuse Crunch from 2000 to 2002, before retiring from hockey on January 28, 2002 following five knee surgeries.
Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1993–94Wexford RaidersMetJHL45191075————— 1994–95Oshawa GeneralsOHL55211138671126 1995–96Oshawa GeneralsOHL624192312850118 1995–96St. John's Maple LeafsAHL4000440002 1996–97Oshawa GeneralsOHL2411011381303334 1996–97Toronto Maple LeafsNHL130006————— 1997–98St. John's Maple LeafsAHL6703318240004 1997–98Toronto Maple LeafsNHL20000————— 1998–99St. John's Maple LeafsAHL55145130————— 1998–99Beast of New HavenAHL2001126————— 1998–99Florida PanthersNHL60116————— 1999–2000Louisville PanthersAHL510101012840004 2000–01Syracuse CrunchAHL71044174500016 2001–02Syracuse CrunchAHL2300058————— AHL totals 291 1 22 23 702 17 0 0 0 26 NHL totals 21 0 1 1 12 — — — — —
International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1997 Canada WJC 7 0 0 0 6
References
External links