Howden Gaining Confidence
It took him a while to get going, but Brett Howden has found his legs at Moose Jaw Warriors training camp.
The 2013 fifth overall pick can’t make the Warriors this weekend, but he has a set of goals he wants to accomplish during the four-day camp. He’s already crossed one off the list by being one of 18 players to advance from rookie camp to main camp.
“I just wanted to take it step-by-step, get past rookie camp and once I make it to main, hopefully make it to the rookie game,” said the 15-year-old forward.
Howden helped Team Grey to a 5-2 win in the final scrimmage of rookie camp and looked to be getting more and more comfortable as the camp went on.
“At the start of the camp, I was a bit nervous and anxious to get going, but once we hit the ice that’s everybody’s own zone and I felt good once I got out there,” he said.
“After one game you start to feel more comfortable, especially (Day 2) you start to get a feel for what these guys are like and how the play moves faster, so I felt a lot more comfortable.”
Howden is a big kid, measuring at 6-foot-1 190-pounds and he was using his big frame much better during the second scrimmage. He was winning battles in the corners and controlling the play in the offensive zone.
He said he put in work this summer to help himself moving forward against bigger players at main camp, and next year when he tries to crack the roster for the first time.
“I was just training every day, getting stronger coming off the wall, these are a lot bigger guys out here and it’s a lot more physical in the WHL, so worked hard getting my strength up and staying sturdy,” said Howden.
Howden got a big boost for his development earlier this month when he took part in the NHLPA Allstate All-Canadians Mentorship Camp. He said he learnt a lot at the camp.
“It was a cool experience for sure,” he said. “Met a lot of new guys out there and a lot of talent guys there, so it’s cool to see what I was like compared to them and to get graded against them.”
Now Howden will be going against players older and some bigger than him during main camp. He’s looking forward to seeing how he matches up.
“These are a lot bigger guys out there, the veterans are going to be showing us how to do, so I’ve got to try to catch up to them and just learn.”
18 players from rookie camp will join the veterans at main camp this weekend. There will be 24 forwards, 14 defencemen and five goalies.
The forwards moving on include: Blake Bargar, Ryan Bowen, Gianluca Esteves (camp invitee), Jacob Garman, Matthieu Gomercic (listed), Jayden Halbgewachs, Brett Howden, Ethan Lazaro, Zac Whitby and Ethan Williams.
Defencemen Tyler Brown, Dylan Dix, Ryan Gardiner, Dustin Perillat, Darren Rizzolo and Christos Zinis are moving on to main camp. As well as goalies Brody Willms and Alex Corley (camp invitee).
Main camp starts on Saturday morning with a scrimmage at 10:00am, there’s a goalie session at 11:30am, and the day wraps up with another scrimmage at 4:00pm. Camp will wrap up on Sunday night with the annual Black and White Game at 6:00pm. All ice times are open and free to the public.
