Former Moose Jaw Warriors standouts Quinton Howden and Josh Brook will be taking the ice in the Spengler Cup elite European club tournament beginning Boxing Day.
Brook was one of 25 players named to Team Canada’s roster Thursday for the annual holiday event, which runs through to the championship game on New Year’s Eve.
The 23-year-old defenceman is coming off an injury-plagued season in 2021-22, where a knee injury and subsequent bout with COVID-19 limited him to only 12 regular season games between the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket and ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions. Brook found his stride in the playoffs with the Lions, though, scoring once and putting up six points in seven games.
So far this season, Brook had three assists in seven games with the Wranglers.
Brook played four seasons with the Warriors and was a regular with Hockey Canada throughout his junior career, playing for Canada in the World Under-17 Challenge, World U18 Championship and World Junior Championship.
The former Montreal Canadiens second-round draft pick enjoyed his best season with the Warriors while serving as the team’s captain in 2018-19, when he had 26 goals and 75 points in 59 games.
Howden’s journey to the Spengler Cup took a far different route.
The 30-year-old forward has spent the last five seasons playing in the KHL and European leagues, including a professional tryout contract with Jukurit of the Finnish Elite League that saw Howden released on Dec. 15.
That led to Thursday, when it was announced that Howden had signed a try-out contract with Orebro of the Swedish Hockey League and would be taking the ice with the team in the Spengler Cup.
Howden played for the Warriors for four seasons from 2009-10 through 2011-12 and was the Florida Panthers’ first-round selection in the 2010 Entry Draft. He played four seasons in the NHL, suiting up for 97 games and putting up 10 goals and 17 points in that span.
Howden was one of the Warriors' top scorers in his final two seasons with the team, putting up 40 goals and 79 points in 60 games in 2010-11 and 30 goals and 65 points in 52 games the following season.
Howden has no shortage of international experience, and has the medals to show for it -- he won silver at the World Juniors in 2011 and followed up with bronze at the tournament in 2012. Most recently, Howden played for Canada in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, where he had an assist in three games as Canada brought home bronze.
Team Canada play their first game against HC Sparta Praha, while Orebro HK take on HC Ambri-Piotta in their opener, with both games on Monday, Dec. 26. The tournament runs throughout the week through to the gold medal game on Saturday, Dec. 31.
You can follow along with all the scores from the tournament by clicking right here.
