Cam Ward will start in net for the Chicago Blackhawks for the team’s season opener when they visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre.
Ward signed a one-year contract worth $3 million in the offseason with Chicago as an insurance goaltender while the team waits for No. 1 netminder Corey Crawford battles back from a concussion last December. On Monday, coach Joel Quenneville said Crawford could return as soon as Oct. 18 against the Coyotes — the team’s sixth game of the season.