Harrison hoping for another memorable moment

Brett Harrison, a London minor hockey alum, has his sights set on another achievement in 2020-21: being selected in this summer’s NHL Entry Draft.

Harrison helped Team Canada win gold at the 2021 IIHF U18 Ice Hockey Championship in May. (Photo: Chris Tanouye & Ryan McCullough/HHOF-IIHF Images).

From playing mini sticks in his minor hockey days to a whirlwind last couple of years in the game, Brett Harrison is hoping that everything comes to fruition when his name is called in this year’s NHL Entry Draft.

Harrison has been around the block within the local hockey scene, initially playing with the Elgin Middlesex Chiefs and then moving to the London Junior Knights for his final seasons at the minor level. After that, he achieved the hockey dream many 15-year-old players have: he was drafted into the OHL, in 2019, by the Oshawa Generals.

But after a successful first season with the Generals, during which he scored 21 goals and added 16 assists in 58 games, much like the rest of the world, Harrison’s immediate future became unclear due to COVID-19.

“After the lockdown in December, my options to skate and work out went away, and I really just started to wonder what my options might be,” said Harrison. “I had some conversations with my agents. With it being my draft year, I wanted to showcase myself. After talking to different leagues, an opportunity with Finland came about. It all happened pretty quickly.”

Harrison joined KOOVEE U20 of the U20 Mestis, an 18-team league from all over Finland. It was a short stay of only eight games, but Harrison jumped right in with 9 points (4 goals and 5 assists) during his stay.

“I was the youngest player on my team over there. It’s a bit of an older league compared to the OHL,” the forward said. “It was a bit more of a puck possession game … not a lot of dumping and chasing the puck … along with a lot of traps and set breakouts.”

Harrison with the Oshawa Generals in 2019. In his first OHL season, he tallied 21 goals and 16 assists in 58 games.

The hockey experience wasn’t the only new adventure for Harrison, who was joined overseas by Nicholas Canade of the Mississauga Steelheads.

“I lived in Tampere, Finland, which was a beautiful city,” Harrison said. “We had an apartment, so we had to learn to cook and clean for ourselves which was a new experience I hadn’t had before. Even though it was only six or seven weeks, it was a great experience.”

After coming back to North America, Harrison was quickly on the road again – this time south of the border, in Texas, as he joined a standout group representing Canada at the 2021 IIHF U18 Ice Hockey Championship.

“It was a little bit different because it was a strictly controlled environment. We had to wear masks everywhere we went, we had no interaction with the public, and we had daily COVID testing,” said Harrison. “We had a great group of guys who came together and gelled quickly, which is one of the reasons we had so much success.”

Harrison netted a pair of goals in the four games he played in, and Team Canada went on to win the tournament with a 5-3 victory over Russia in the gold medal game in early May.

“We had a great group of ‘03s [players born in 2003], and obviously the ’04 and ’05 players were pretty good as well,” said Harrison, referring specifically to Shane Wright and Connor Bedard, who both received exceptional status from Hockey Canada to play junior as 15-year-olds.

Now, the next big date on Harrison’s calendar is July 23 & 24, when the youngster hopes to have his name called in the NHL Entry Draft. The event will be completely virtual for a second straight year, which has made for a much different experience yet again.

“No in-person meetings,” said Harrison. “It’s all been zoom calls, phone calls and e-mails with different teams, but I’ve been trying to make the most out of it and we’ll see what happens.”

Harrison admits there’s one NHL team that would be extra meaningful if they selected him.

“My dad is a big Boston Bruins fan, and it has kind of run through the family, so that would be pretty cool,” he said. “But obviously, any team that would draft me would be unbelievable to play for.”

Harrison has seen a lot over the last couple of years in his hockey journey, and there’s little doubt the future is bright for the 18-year-old.