Joshua Roy at the Junior World Championship | An experience that gives confidence

“It will give me confidence to have done so well against the best junior players in the world. I will be ready for the camp in Montreal. »

Katherine Harvey Pinard
The Press

In just a few weeks, Joshua Roy will put on the Canadiens jersey during his second rookie camp since being selected in the fifth round of the 2021 draft. Except that, this time, he will be there as a new gold medalist of the Junior World Championship.

At the end of the line, Roy almost lacks words to describe the experience he has had in recent weeks. “It was incredible”, he drops repeatedly, two days after the victory.

The Habs prospect was expecting “not much” when he showed up in Edmonton with the Canadian team. He was among the replacements after several players withdrew at the request of their respective NHL teams. Without pressure, he just wanted to give everything he had.

He ended up having a bigger role than expected, playing some first-line games with Anaheim Ducks prospect and team captain Mason McTavish. He was also entrusted with major defensive missions. And he collected eight points, including three goals, in seven games.

In other words, “it went really well”, says the main interested party. In the final, against Finland, he scored Canada’s first goal. After completing a check from behind the net, he pounced on McTavish’s return shot, sending the red-clad crowd to Rogers Place.

“It was one of the most important goals of my career! exclaims the young man at the evocation of this memory. It was an incredible moment. »

Roy will also remember the moment when McTavish deprived the Finns of a certain goal in overtime. A minute later, representatives of the Maple Leaf scored the decisive net. Video of McTavish’s maneuver quickly went viral.

“Everyone thought it was over, and in the end, no,” Roy recalls.

“From our angle, we couldn’t see too much. We knew he had prevented the goal, but we didn’t think it was by stopping the puck in the air. It was after the match, when we got back to the locker room, that we saw the recovery. »

This triumph in the black and red uniform is without a doubt “the most beautiful” moment of his career so far, says the forward.

Have a “ game pro »

Last season, Roy scored 51 goals and 119 points in 66 games with the Sherbrooke Phœnix and won the QMJHL scoring championship. He signed his first professional contract with the Habs. And he played his first professional game, with the Laval Rocket, in the playoffs moreover.

In an interview with The Press at the end of the season, the young man insisted on the importance of not “skipping a stage” for the rest of his career. “I expect to come back to Sherbrooke and try to win again,” he said of the next training camp.

A few months passed, but Roy didn’t change his mind. Places on offense are rare, if not non-existent, with the Canadian. And since he’s only 19, he can’t play in the American League this season.

His objective, therefore, is very simple: “I just try to do well. I want to prove that I am capable of playing pro, that I have reached a game pro. That is the most important. »

Precisely, if he is back in Sherbrooke, his role will once again be very great. Roy is not the type to put pressure on himself, but “want, don’t want, there is sure to be a little,” he admits.

“But I can handle it. I really don’t mind. This year, I will not rely on the number of points I will score. It’s really going to be to change my game to have a game pro.

“If I want to perform at the next level, that’s what I have to work on. It’s not to make points in the junior that will make me play in the NHL, it’s really to have a game pro. »