Olympic Experience Memorable for Howden

Quinton and Brett Howden have been playing a game of one-upmanship over the past few months.

First Brett topped Quinton by winning gold with Team Canada at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in January, but Quinton took it to another level last month.

Howden earned a bronze medal with the Canadian men’s hockey team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

“I got one back on him,” Quinton said with a laugh. “I got up to watch his World Juniors and I was just as happy for him and it was a pretty cool experience that we could both play for Canada in the same year.”

The Olympics wasn’t the first time that Howden had thrown on the maple leaf, but being able to do it on sport’s biggest stage was something that he will never forget.

“You can’t really put into words what it means to put on that jersey and it’s always a special moment to put it on and enjoy representing your country,” said Howden.

After years of watching the Olympics, Howden had a chance to immerse himself in the Games during his time in South Korea. He said it was incredible how connected you feel with all the other athletes.

“When you watch the Olympics at home, you kind of put it on in the background, but when you’re there and everyday you’re walking into the meal hall and you’re seeing that person that just won gold or that person that’s competing tomorrow,” said Howden. “It’s pretty cool and to be able to see everybody from all different countries and talk to different people, you really can’t put it into words, it was one of the greatest experiences ever.”

Howden finished with one assist for Canada during the tournament, which just so happened to come during the bronze medal game, which Canada won 6-4 over the Czech Republic.

After years of the NHL sending its best to the Olympics, that changed in 2018 with the NHL passing on going to the Games. Howden, along with other players, that may have fallen out of the view of everyday fans were back in the forefront.

Howden said that played into the dynamic of the team, “Everybody back home either remembers some of the guys that were on the team or they looked them up and saw that they played for a long time,” he said. “It was unbelievable, I knew a couple of guys going into it, but we had so much fun and we literally were a family and everybody wanted the same and you don’t have that too often and just to get a medal is a pretty big honour.”

After playing 207 games in the American Hockey League and 97 in the NHL, Howden made the move to the KHL with Dinamo Minsk this season. He posted 17 goals and 32 points in 56 games during his rookie campaign.

He said the first year over in Russia went really well, “Everybody says it’s the second-best league in the world and it definitely is, it’s very competitive and there’s a ton of good players there and some of them could very easily be in the NHL, but they want to play at home, so it’s a good league and it’s been a lot of fun,” Howden said.

With his season in Russia wrapped up, Howden is back in Canada and looking to cheer on his younger brother as he looks to lead the Moose Jaw Warriors to a WHL Championship, which would be another one-up for Brett.

During Quinton’s final season in Moose Jaw, he helped lead the team into the Eastern Conference Final, but they weren’t able to finish the job. He said he’s ready to cheer on his brother towards the title.

“I told Brett not long ago to just enjoy it,” said Quinton. “I’ve played in the NHL, I’ve played in the AHL and have had a lot of years since being in junior and honestly that one year was the funnest I’ve had in hockey.

“If I was to tell any of these guys anything, it would be just go do whatever it takes. It doesn’t matter if you score the goal or you don’t, if you make a good play and chip the puck out, that’s as good as a goal in the playoffs. These guys are going to have a good run, I’m going to be here for all of it and hopefully they can do a lot more than we did.”