Sharks winger Joel Ward honored his late father in a heartfelt piece for The Players’ Tribune.

“After my father died my life could have gone in a very different direction, but hockey saved me,” Ward wrote in a post Monday titled Step By Step. “Whenever I take the ice, I’m playing for a lot of people. Not just the awesome fans in San Jose, but also my family, my friends and all the other people in my life who kept me on the right path.

“And I’m also playing for Dad, because I know he’s be watching me with a big smile on his face.”

Ward outlined his dad’s love for hockey — born after immigrating from Barbados to a Toronto suburb — and the stroke he had during one of Ward’s youth hockey games.

After that tragic death, when Ward was 14, Ward’s mom doubled down on work as a nurse. Despite not having the money for new hockey sticks, Ward continued training and made his way to University of Prince Edward Island. Then he caught on with the AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators, with whom he spent his first four NHL seasons.

“It turned out my dad was right. I was cut out for the NHL,” wrote Ward, who 21 goals and 22 assists for the Sharks last season, his second-best output in eight seasons. “I still think about my dad all the time. I never stop missing him.”