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Thursday, September 8, 2011

Howden Looking Forward to Panthers Camp

Two years ago Moose Jaw Warrior Quinton Howden was drafted 25th overall by the Florida Panthers in the NHL Entry Draft.

This week he's heading south for rookie camp, and will be looking to inch closer to his NHL dreams, and says he's going down with a ton of confidence.

"I've been at two camps now, they've helped me out a lot. They've (Florida) changed things down there already a lot. They're rebuilding the same way Moose Jaw did when I first came here. I know what they're going thru and hopefully I can be there to help out."

Howden is one of seven Warriors attending camps this weekend and says they all need to battle if they want to get noticed. "I don't me or any of the other guys realize how hard it is to make the team. We've stayed there for a couple exhibition games but it's a lot longer than that that you have to prove yourself. It'll be tough, it's definitely a handful and we're looking forward to it."

The 19 year old Warrior veteran signed with the Panthers near the end of last season and says with that brings pressure. "When you think about it, you want to make sure that you impress them. I'm not going to do much outside of my comfort zone. I'll keep things simple, just play the way I can play and hopefully that get's me far enough."

There's been a lot of talk around the water cooler on whether or not Howden cracks the pros, and he says the next couple of weeks are a "win-win" situation for him.

"If I do get the opportunity to stay up for a while it's a dream come true for me, it's another goal that I've succeeded with. If things don't work out and I end up coming here, I'll play in this beautiful facility, we're going to have a great team to go far, and hopefully play World Juniors again. I'm not going to put pressure on myself, whatever happens happens."

Howden's first rookie game is Sunday, September 11th against Tampa Bay. He's one of seven Warriors off to pro camps this week.

Dylan McIlrath and Collin Bowman are headed to Rangers rookie camps, Cody Beach and Joel Edmundson are at Blues camp, Kendall McFaull heads to Jets camp, and Dallas Ehrhardt has a tryout with the Calgary Flames.

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