Quinton Howden (born January 21, 1992) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

forward who is currently an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He last played for

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their hom ...

of the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

(DEL). He was drafted by the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and initially played their home game ...

in the first round of the

2010 NHL Entry Draft The 2010 NHL Entry Draft was the 48th NHL Entry Draft, held on June 25–26, 2010 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, home arena of the Los Angeles Kings. This was the first time Los Angeles hosted the NHL Entry Draft. An unofficial r ...

, 25th overall. He was also selected to play in the 2011 and

2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2012 IIHF U20 World Championship (commonly known as the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships) was the 36th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It was hosted in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It began on Decemb ...

for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

Playing career

Howden started playing

minor hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...

when he was five. Before starting to play hockey, he broke his

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates wit ...

in a bicycle accident, and had to spend two months in a cast from chest to toe. As a result of the injury, his doctors doubted he would be a very good athlete. Howden was the first overall choice in the 2007

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major 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 ...

(WHL) Bantam Draft by the

Moose Jaw Warriors The Moose Jaw Warriors are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The Warriors play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Moose Jaw Events Centr ...

. After weighing his options between

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

(NCAA) hockey and the WHL, Howden chose to sign with the Warriors shortly after the draft. Howden played five games with the Warriors as an affiliate player during the 2007–08 season, before joining the club full-time for the 2008–09 season. He had a relatively quiet rookie season, but really came out in his sophomore season setting a point-per-game pace. After a 65-point season with Moose Jaw, Howden was drafted in the first round, 25th overall, in the

by the

. In 2011, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Florida but was sent back to Moose Jaw for his final year of junior. In the 2012–13 season, he split time between Florida and their

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) affiliate; in 18 games with Florida, he had no points. After four seasons within the Panthers' organization, Howden failed to receive a qualifying offer and therefore left as a free agent to sign a one-year, two-way contract with the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

on July 1, 2016. After spending the majority of the 2016–17 season with the Jets' AHL affiliate, the

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and a member of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre, the home arena of its parent club, Winnipeg Jets o ...

, Howden failed to receive a qualifying offer. As a free agent, Howden signed with Dinamo Minsk of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

(KHL) on August 18, 2017. After two seasons in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

with Dinamo Minsk, Howden left as a free agent to sign a one-year contract to continue in the KHL with Russian outfit,

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (russian: Торпедо Нижний Новгород) is a professional ice hockey club in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League. The team's home arena is Trad ...

on August 6, 2019. In the 2019–20 season, Howden posted 7 goals and 13 points in 36 games before he was traded by Torpedo to

HC Vityaz Hockey Club Vityaz (, en, HC Knight) is a professional ice hockey team based in Podolsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. In the first few seasons of the KHL, the team was widely k ...

on December 23, 2019. In the second half of the season, Howden in a top 6 scoring role contributed with 4 goals and 7 points in 19 games. He made his KHL playoff debut with Vityaz, finishing as the club's leading goalscorer with 2 goals in a 4 games series sweep defeat to

SKA Saint Petersburg The Hockey Club SKA (russian: Спортивный клуб СКА), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg. They are members o ...

International play

Howden was invited to take part in Canada's 2011 National Junior Team selection camp He then participated at the

2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2011 IIHF World U20 Championship, commonly referred to as the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championships (''2011 WJHC''), was the 35th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship and was hosted by the United States. The games were played ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, winning the silver medal; and the

in Canada, winning bronze. In 2018, Howden won a bronze medal after he was chosen to represent

at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

Personal life

Howden's younger brother Brett was drafted 27th overall by the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

in the

2016 NHL Entry Draft The 2016 NHL Entry Draft was the 54th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The first three selections were Auston Matthews going to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine ...

. Howden married Cassandra Tremblay on August 10, 2017.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howden, Quinton 1992 births Living people Canadian ice hockey left wingers Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Belarus HC Dinamo Minsk players Florida Panthers draft picks Florida Panthers players Ice hockey people from Manitoba Kölner Haie players Manitoba Moose players Moose Jaw Warriors players People from Oakbank, Manitoba Olympic ice hockey players of Canada Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in ice hockey National Hockey League first-round draft picks San Antonio Rampage players Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod players Winnipeg Jets players HC Vityaz players