In this series, we’ll be asking various Nashville Predators players about their personal memories of the World Junior Championships. The 2019 tournament is being held in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and started on December 26 and concludes with the Gold Medal Game on January 5.
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Austin Watson
Team USA, 2012
Jeremy K. Gover: “As you know, it’s World Juniors time. I want to take you back to 2012 when you played for Team USA.”
Austin Watson: “Yeah, it was exciting, for sure. We were in Calgary and Edmonton. When you’re in a big hockey hub like that, in Canada, the games were packed, there was a lot of excitement. As a junior hockey player, it’s what you want to do. It’s what you kind of work toward at that time [of your life]. We didn’t finish very well but still, just to be able to go through that whole experience was awesome.”
JKG: “Ryan Johansen told me that, personally, he felt like the tournament gave him a lot of confidence going forward in his career. Do you feel similar?”
AW: “Oh I don’t know, I think Joey and I played different roles in the World Juniors. I think he played a little more and they [Canada] played a little better.” *laughs* “So I don’t know if mine was comparable. I did have a really good game in the relegation round so that was nice.”
JKG: “Are there maybe one or two memories that stand out from that experience?”
AW: “Yeah, I mean you always remember the US/Canada game. We were on the losing end of it but there was so much emotion and so much pride in that game. And, like I said about the relegation round, I think I had seven points or something like that. For me, personally, that was pretty cool.”
JKG: “What’s that call like when the person on the other end tells you that you’re going to play for your country?”
AW: “Mine was funny. I chipped my tooth in the game right before they made the cuts so I was at the dentist when they told everybody. So I came back and I didn’t know if I was on the team or not. So, when I came back from the dentist, they kinda unenthusiastically said ‘Oh yeah, hey, you made the team. Congrats.’ because everybody else had already been told. It was pretty funny.”
JKG: “Thanks so much.”
AW: “Absolutely.”
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Listen to the Preds Profile piece on World Junior Memories that originally aired on the Nashville Predators Pre-Game Show on Thursday, December 27 below.
