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Austin Watson

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{{Infobox ice hockey player | name = Austin Watson | position = Center | shoots = Right | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 3 | weight_lb = 204 | ntl_team = | birth_date = (1992-01-13) January 13, 1992 (age 32) | birth_place = Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. | draft = 18th overall | draft_year = 2010 | draft_team = Nashville Predators | career_start = 2011 | team = Nashville Predators | league = NHL | prospect_league = AHL | prospect_team = Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 18th overall by the Predators in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.[1]

Early life

Austin Watson was born January 13, 1992, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was raised by his father and mother,[2] Mike and Mary Watson. He is the oldest of ten children, nine boys and one girl.[3] He went to school one year at Detroit Catholic Central High School, and one year at Father Gabriel Richard High School before he was drafted into the OHL, where he attended St. Anne's High School, and after being traded to Peterborough, finishing high school there. Watson played for the high school golf team at Father Gabriel Richard, where they went to state finals.[4]

Playing career

Junior

Before the OHL, Watson played all of his early hockey with the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors, whose home arena is Compuware Arena. While playing for the Ambassadors, Watson received early exposure to OHL hockey, as Compuware Arena is also home to the Plymouth Whalers.

At first, Watson did not show interest in the OHL, and verbally committed to the University of Maine Black Bears, planning on playing for the US U-17 team. Because of his plans to play college, although he was projected to go second overall in the OHL draft, he ended up going 36th overall.[5] Because the U-17 delayed on giving him a spot, Watson decided to forgo his verbal commitment to Maine and play with the Windsor Spitfires.

Although it was a gamble, the Spitfires took a chance and drafted Watson. Their bet paid off, as Watson surprised people with his fast skating and smart play. Despite the fact that Watson hit a slump mid-season, he came out with 10 goals and 19 assists, for a total of 29 points. During playoffs, after a total of 20 games played, he snatched up 3 more points in the form of assists.[6] While Watson had a remarkable rookie season, he accompanied the Spitfires to becoming the most elite in the league, the CHL Memorial Cup champions, at the same time breaking the record and becoming the first team to ever come back for an overall win from fourth place in the finals. Also, it was the first Spitfires franchise win of the Memorial Cup.[7]

On January 11, 2010, the Spitfires traded Watson to the Peterborough Petes. The trade was to his benefit, as he received a chance at more playing time on this younger team.[8] Watson played in the 2010 CHL Top Prospects game for Team Cherry, and played well, as he, among other things, broke up a 5-on-3 penalty kill, though he unfortunately broke his ankle blocking a second shot and missed a month with the Petes.[9]

While playing with the Spitfires, Watson was projected to go 25th according to the International Scouting Service(ISS) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but after an advantageous trade to the Petes, he jumped in rank to 14th in April, where the NHL Central Scouting Final Ranks placed him. According to the ISS, he ranked 12th.[10][11] Watson was drafted 18th overall by the Nashville Predators.[12]

On January 9, 2012, Watson was traded to the London Knights.[13]

International play

Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing United States United States
IIHF World U18 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2010 WJC U18

Watson was selected to play for the USA national under-18 select team for the 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.[14] Despite the fact that the US did not win, he played well, tying the US record for most points in a single game.

Watson was selected to play for the US national team at the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships. Though the US team ultimately won the gold medal, Watson was ejected from the championship game 5 minutes in for a boarding call.[15]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2008–09 Windsor Spitfires OHL 63 10 19 29 41 20 0 3 3 15
2009–10 Windsor Spitfires OHL 42 11 23 34 14 — — — — —
2009–10 Peterborough Petes OHL 10 9 11 20 8 4 2 0 2 2
2010–11 Peterborough Petes OHL 68 34 34 68 54 — — — — —
2010–11 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0
2011–12 Peterborough Petes OHL 32 14 19 33 33 — — — — —
2011–12 London Knights OHL 29 11 24 35 14 19 10 7 17 10
2012–13 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 72 20 17 37 22 4 1 0 1 0
2012–13 Nashville Predators NHL 6 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
2013–14 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 76 22 24 46 24 3 0 0 0 6
2014–15 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 76 26 18 44 34 — — — — —
2015–16 Nashville Predators NHL 57 3 7 10 32 — — — — —
NHL totals 63 4 7 11 32 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2010 United States WJC18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 2 1 3 33
2012 United States WJC 7th 6 3 6 9 0
Junior totals 13 5 7 12 33

Awards and honors

Award Year Ref
Wayne Gretzky 99 Award - OHL Playoff MVP 2011–12
CHL Memorial Cup All-Star Team 2012 [16]

References

  1. ^ "Watson top Spits camp draft". The Windsor Star. Archived from the original on 2008-09-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Jeff Arnold (Jul 4, 2010). "Austin Watson makes sacrifices to follow his hockey dreams from Ann Arbor to NHL". AnnArbor.com.
  3. ^ "Spitfires fans play hooky to welcome hockey champions". The Windsor Star. Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "high school box scores". The Ann Arbor News. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Watson top Spits camp draft". The Windsor Star. Archived from the original on 2008-09-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2009-11-13. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "Mitchell, Spitfires Mem Cup Champions". NHL.com. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "For Watson, the trade was elementary". myKwartha.com. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "April ISS #12: Austin Watson". Anaheim Calling. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "April ISS #12: Austin Watson". Anaheim Calling. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Draft Prospect Card – 2010". NHL.com. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ http://proxy.espn.go.com/nhldraft/draft/tracker/round
  13. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-01-06. Retrieved 2012-01-13. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ^ "2009 USA Under-18 Select Team Roster". McKeen’s Hockey Prospects. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "U18 Celebration Video". NTDP Blog. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ Memorial Cup All-Star Teams
  17. ^ "OHL announces academic players of the month". OHL Official Website. Archived from the original on 2009-02-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Nashville Predators first round draft pick
2010 		Succeeded by
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