The Western Hockey League opened its 2021-22 season on Friday and four former Panthers players are featured on the league’s opening night rosters.
The list is highlighted by 2021 Ottawa Senators draft pick and 2003-born right wing Carson Latimer of the Edmonton Oil Kings, who was the WHL Central Division rookie of the year in 2020-21. He finished the season with 16 points in 22 games for Edmonton after leading all PJHL rookies in scoring with one goal and 11 assists in eight games for the Panthers.
The Vancouver Giants have two former Panthers on their season opening roster. After posting one assist in eight games on the Panthers, 2003-born defenseman Brenden Pentecost joined the Giants for the WHL season in March. He finished the season with one assist in a dozen games with Vancouver.
Sammy May is a new face on the Giants after being waived by Saskatoon earlier this fall. The 2003-born forward joined the Panthers early in the 2020-21 season and proceeded to notch three goals and an assist in two games. He joined the Blades in mid-March and posted an assist in 11 games.
Goaltender Mason Dunsford is entering his third season in the WHL and first with the Seattle Thunderbirds after being acquired via trade from the Portland Winterhawks last month.
The 2003-born netminder has played his entire WHL career thus far with the Tri-City Americans, posting a 3-14 record, a 6.28 goals-against-average, and an .844 save percentage in 23 games.
Dunsford played five games in Port Moody to start the 2019-20 season before joining the Americans full time in January 2020. Dunsford’s goals-against-average of 3.77 was the best among all goaltenders who played for the Panthers that season.
