Jr. Panther Duo Wins Trip to Compete at 2017 NHL All-Star Weekend

SUNRISE, Fla. -Florida Jr. Panthers William Anderson and Zachary Shield are heading to the 2017 NHL All-Star game after winning the first-annual Mini 1-on-1 Tournament at the BB&T Center on Tuesday, December 5.
"It was actually very nerve-wracking," said Anderson, a fourth-grader from Boca Raton. "A couple of [the other kids] are my friends that I've actually been with on other teams and I knew how good they play. I knew that I was just going to have to play better."

The Mini 1-on-1 is an NHL-sponsored Squirt (10U) shootout tournament. Each year, clubs from around the league host their own qualifying rounds to determine who will represent them in the final competition at NHL All-Star Weekend.
The Panthers previously hosted qualifying rounds for Squirt travel teams at each of the six local ice rinks in South Florida. The top goaltender and shooter tandem from each rink earned an invitation to compete in the finals in Sunrise.
This is the first year the Panthers have participated in the event.

"I think it's a great way to honor kids in this market," said John Colombo, the director of community relations for the Panthers. "It gives us a chance to do something special. It's about growing the game, which is a priority for this organization. For us, the key is to be able to open something up to all of our rinks, grow hockey in South Florida and to put one of our kids on the national stage."
The format for the event revolved around each team - a shooter and goaltender - facing off against one another in a tournament-style shootout competition. The top two seeds from the preliminary round received first-round byes. Throughout the initial rounds, each shooter took nine total shots on the opposing goalie. The highest goal total from each series won, with any ties being broken by a sudden death shootout.

Anderson, who started playing hockey around the age of three, said he enjoys watching Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Toronto's Auston Matthews in the shootout. The 9 year old said he often attempts to mimic their style, which he describes as "coming in with a lot of speed and using a quick release" to fool opposing goaltenders.
In this tournament, however, Anderson had to change his approach.
"It's basically just sweeping and swooping, going side to side," Anderson said, hair overflowing from his Panthers hat. "It's just curving with a zigzag line until I get an open spot by the goalie just moving his glove to the front.
"My shot is typically a little bit below the blocker because I don't want to go too high because on a couple shots I hit the crossbar and it went up into the glass. I figured it only worked a couple times and my low-blocker strategy worked various times, so I would do that for my goals."
With Anderson scoring the goals, Shield spent the evening supporting him in net, making big save after big save after big save throughout the night. When asked about his game, the 10 year old said he "developed it as I went" and adjusted to each shooter's tendencies.
"I do a technique that my goalie coach taught me," said Shield, a fifth grader from Parkland. "It's called the Y-Technique. You go out and then you come back and you glide and then you go which way they go. When they're coming down I've just got to keep calm and not go crazy."
In the final round, both Anderson and Shield kept their cool, defeating Pines Ice Arena's Luke Moforis and Harrison Hecker by a score of 2-1 in a best-of-three showdown to advance to the NHL-wide Mini 1-on-1 competition at the 2017 NHL All-Star Game in Tampa.
"My big dream, besides going into the NHL, was just to win a single game on this ice," Anderson said of his experience at the BB&T Center. "Now I feel like, since the victory in the shootout, it really brought me to it."
Thanks to all of our participating rinks and players!
Palm Beach Ice Works/Palm Beach Breakers
Goalie - Logan Winters
Shooter - Jack Mackey
Palm Beach Skate Zone/Palm Beach Hawks
Goalie - Jensen Carlstrom
Shooter - Kenny Carpenter
Glacier Ice & Snow Arena/Glacier Sharp Shooters
Goalie - Tyler Mundie
Shooter - Brady Vallee
Florida Panthers IceDen/Florida Jr. Panthers
Goalie - Zachary Shield
Shooter - William Anderson
Pines Ice Arena/Golden Wolves
Goalie - Luke Moforis
Shooter - Harrison Hecker
Kendall Ice Arena/Miami Toros
Goalie - Zackeal Eldridge
Shooter - Daniel Albis