J. D. Watt (born May 25, 1987) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

winger. He was originally drafted by the Flames in the fourth round (111th overall) of the

2005 NHL Entry Draft The 2005 NHL entry draft was the 43rd entry draft for the National Hockey League. Originally scheduled to be held on June 25, it was postponed to July 30 due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Special procedures were required to determine the order ...

. Beginning with the 2012–13 season, Watt has been playing with the SAIT Trojans of the

Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is the governing body for collegiate sports in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1964, as the Western Inter-College Conference, the ACAC is represented by eighteen schools, including one in Saskatchewan, t ...

(ACAC). Watt was born and raised in

Cremona, Alberta Cremona is a village in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located north of Cochrane and west of Carstairs, along the Cowboy Trail (Highway 22). Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village of Cremona ...

Playing career

A native of

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Watt played Junior A hockey with the

Drumheller Dragons The Drumheller Dragons are a junior A ice hockey team based in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, with home games at the 1,800 seat Drumheller Memorial Arena. They are members of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, which is a member of the Canadian ...

of the

Alberta Junior Hockey League The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. The 2023–24 season began with 16 teams, however 5 ...

(AJHL) in 2003–04 before joining the

major junior Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National List of members of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's nationa ...

ranks with the

Vancouver Giants The Vancouver Giants are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team playing based in Langley, British Columbia, and playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Founded in 2001, the Giants won the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions in 2006 and th ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

(WHL) late in the season. Playing with the Giants, Watt won the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

and the

2007 Memorial Cup The 2007 MasterCard Memorial Cup was played in May 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the Pacific Coliseum. It was the 89th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League ...

championships. He played for the

Red Deer Rebels The Red Deer Rebels are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta. The Rebels are members of the Western Hockey League and play home games at the Marchant Crane Centrium. The Rebels won the President's Cup and the Mem ...

and the

Regina Pats The Regina Pats are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. Founded in 1917, the Pats are the world's oldest continuously operating major junior hockey franchise in its original location and using its original name. The ...

in his final year of major junior. Watt was drafted after his second junior season by his hometown team, the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

(Cremona is approximately just 75 km outside of

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

), in the fourth round, 111th overall, in the

. In 2008–09, he was initially assigned to the Flames'

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Quad City Flames The Quad City Flames was an American professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 2007 to 2009. They were owned by QC Sports Ventures Inc., an ownership group based out of the Quad Cities. The Flames played at the i ...

, but was quickly reassigned to the

Las Vegas Wranglers The Las Vegas Wranglers were a professional ice hockey team based in Las Vegas Valley. The Wranglers were members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League). The Wranglers were founded a ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. On November 9, 2008, he recorded his first professional

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mechan ...

and added an assist for a four-point night against the Phoenix RoadRunners in a 6–2 win. Watt was recalled, however, by the Quad City Flames on December 8, 2008. He was suspended by the AHL late in the season for four games on February 24, 2009, after delivering a check to the head in a game against the

San Antonio Rampage The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was so ...

. On January 5, 2011, the Calgary Flames announced that J.D. Watt's contract has been terminated effective immediately. "J.D. notified us on Monday that he was no longer interested in pursuing his career with the Calgary Flames organization," "He informed us of his decision and as a result, he was then suspended and cleared unconditional waivers this morning. We are moving forward in the best interests of the hockey club, our players in Abbotsford and the Flames organization." During the

2010–11 AHL season The 2010–11 AHL season was the 75th season of the American Hockey League. An all-time high of thirty teams played 80 games each during the regular season schedule, which started on October 8, 2010, and ended on April 10, 2011. This season feat ...

Watt played 27 games with the Abbotsford Heat, recording one goal and three assists for four points while accumulating 73 penalty minutes. On May 1, 2011, Watt left the

' organization. As a professional, Watt was known for his abrasive style of play as an agitator. During his eight years of play in the

, and

, Watt was penalized for 117 fights. He joined the SAIT Trojans with the 2012–13 season, and through his first season of ACAC play, which included 28 regular season games and 8 playoff contests, Watt was not involved in a single fight.

Awards

*Won the

as WHL champions with the

. *Won the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

as CHL champions with the Vancouver Giants in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Career statistics

References

External links

*
J. D. Watt on HockeysFuture.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, J. D. 1987 births Living people Abbotsford Heat players Calgary Flames draft picks Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey forwards Ice hockey people from Alberta Las Vegas Wranglers players Manchester Monarchs (AHL) players Ontario Reign (ECHL) players People from Mountain View County Quad City Flames players Red Deer Rebels players Regina Pats players San Antonio Rampage players Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) players Vancouver Giants players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen