Soo Greyhounds forward Owen Allard is making his mark at the World Juniors tournament taking place in Gothenburg, Sweden, this week.
Allard scored an important goal in Canada’s 5-2 win over Finland on Boxing Day. The 19-year-old jumped into the glass as part of the celebration.
"Some of the boys thought the glass was going down," Allard told TSN’s Mark Masters.
"I just had a lot of excitement. I kind of blacked out, to be honest with you."
Stepping on the ice to represent his country is something he said he’ll never forget.
"It was a pretty surreal experience," Allard told Masters.
"Just getting out there, seeing the Canadian fans is just something special and something I never experienced before. Just through the roof excitement. It was really fun."
In his profile of Allard, CTV Ottawa’s Dylan Dyson said Allard was surprised to make the team, considering he was injured much of last year. He had played just 14 games last season and was recovering from shoulder surgery.
"The reaction was just tears; speechless," Owen's mother, Andrea Allard, told Dyson.
"Just so proud of him."
Allard was a seventh-round pick in the 2020 OHL draft and hasn’t yet been drafted by an NHL club. But Allard said his emergence this year is something he has worked for.
“I laid it all on the line,” Allard told Hockey Canada.
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“I thought I had a strong performance at (selection) camp, I did my thing and I had no regrets. I dreamed of playing at the World Juniors as a kid, so it’s a really special moment for myself, and my family and friends.”
Canada plays Latvia on Wednesday afternoon.
