2012 World Junior Recap - Florida Edition

The World Juniors has come and gone, and once again the Panthers were well represented at the event. The Panthers prospects included 5 players from 2 nations; 1 goalie, 1 Defenseman and 3 Forwards all took part and varying degrees of success.

 The Panthers sent two Americans to the annual tournament showcasing the best young talent in the game of hockey. Emerson Etem and Jon Merrill, who were both, acquired by the Panthers, in a trade last year from the Calgary Flames.  Both players were taking part in their 2^nd world junior tournament and unfortunately for them, represented one of the worst efforts from an American team in the tournament.  The Americans finished in the relegation round, but thankfully for them won both games, to stay in next year’s tournament.  Etem, who plays for the Medicine Hat Tigers, had a disappointing tournament, pitching in 4 assists in the 6 games. Jon Merrill who has been suspended all year by Michigan, finally got some games in, also putting up 4 assists from the blueline for the States.

“I think we expected more from Etem in this tourney, he was the veteran guy and counted for on offense and was a part of the disappointment for the US. With that said it was a bad tournament but we still expect big things from him and it’s just a minor blimp in what we expect a great career for him. Merrill on the other hand we thought played pretty well. He hasn’t gotten any action in months and to come directly into a competitive tournament, cold is very hard. We liked what we saw from him and hope he starts getting playing time in Michigan.

 Canada would finish the tournament in disappointment as well. Ending with a bronze on home soil still fails to meet expectations but the Panthers reps still had a very good tournament. Moose Jaw Warrior, Quinton Howden was in his second WJC, and finished with 6 points in 6 games in the tourney, including 2 goals in the bronze medal winning game. Freshman to the WJC, Goalie Scott Wedgewood and Ryan Strome both had very good tournaments. Strome was one of the main keys in Canada’s offense finishing with 9 points and 3 goals, and Scott Wedgewood who took over for Mark Visentin was 2-0 in 3 games, with a 2.45 GAA and 1 shutout.

“We were very happy with the Canadians we had this tournament. Quinton Howden continues to be one of our favourite prospects and we are happy with his progression. He is a physical beast with great offensive instincts and we hope to see him turn pro next year. Strome was very fun to watch and its why we coveted him so much heading in to last year’s draft. Wedge is also one of our favourite prospects and to see him finally come into the spot light in this tourney and play well was great to see.”

It will be interesting to see how many Panthers prospects will be there next year in Russia.