David Jewett never hesitated to make important decisions to achieve his goals.
Posted at 5:00 am
After leaving Quebec for Hawkesbury on 13, playing in the US on 15 and heading to Sudbury on 17, the Saint-Jérôme native will soon be rewarded for his “years of work”, as he could be selected in the first round of the NHL Draft.
He himself describes his career as “special”.
Goyette first moved to Hawkesbury, Ontario with her family when she was 13 years old. “The goal was to learn English and play in Ontario,” he says by phone. We found a nice house by the water. »
He never regretted it. Because his primary target was never Quebec juniors. Goyette wanted to play in the NCAA.
“For me and my parents, school has always been the first, as the midfielder explains. He was really important in my family. I always told myself that if it didn’t work out in hockey, I would have a plan B with the school.”
After a 94-point season in 30 Under-15 games, at AAA, in 2018-2019, Goyette “wanted to live the experience of being in a dormitory, like in the NCAA.” So he headed to Connecticut, USA, where he joined the Selectus Academy at South Kent School.
The first few months required adjustment, of course. But we have to believe that it all went well, as he put together a total of … 153 points, including 49 goals, in 65 games that year.
change plan
At the time, Goyette was still considering playing in the NCAA. He also received an offer of a scholarship to Boston University.
If the path he wanted to take had always been so clear in Joyett’s mind, it had become less clear during his visit to the University of Massachusetts…
“When I went there, I sat with my parents in the coach’s office and told my dad that if I was his son he would send me to OHL because my game was a good game for him. This league match. He said I would be able to get to the next level faster than most players who play in the NCAA. . »
It’s hard to do a better job in terms of transparency. “We thought it was a good idea for him to tell us that, but he still annoyed us and changed our plans,” explains the quick striker.
So much so that he finally chose the Ontario circuit. Selected in the first round, 11e Overall, by Sudbury’s wolves in the 2020 draft.
“I put my cards down a bit to land at Wolverhampton because I have family there,” he says. While talking to the team, I thought he was fit. »
Currently, my host family is my mother’s cousin. It helped me get to know the place.
David Jewett
Goyette was supposed to play his first season as a junior in 2020-2021, but the pandemic thwarted his plans. So he trained in a gym built from scratch in the family home garage.
He also played a few games for the PAL Junior Islanders at the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC) in Tampa, but a team complained about his contract with OHL after he scored six points in four games. So he returned to Hawkesbury, where he played 10 games for the local Junior A team.
no regret
Jewett scored 73 points in 66 games in his first season with Wolverhampton this year. Mid-season, NHL Central Scouting ranked him 35e Among skiers in North America. It must be said that the holiday of the year in OHL “did not take advantage of it”, while the optimists of QMJHL and WHL continued to play.
Of course, for me, it took longer to find my game. But when I found her, I started playing with confidence. I climbed up the rankings and felt relieved.
David Jewett
In the most recent list, Centrale placed David Goyette at number 13e Rank.
On July 7, the young man has certain expectations. He’d like to hear his name among the top 20 or 25, ideally. Many of his family and friends who are still in Quebec will attend at the Bell Centre.
“I can’t wait to get to the training camp to see where I am,” he says. I’m definitely going to have the summer of my life, training every day to get as prepared as possible. You never know if you can make a surprise at camp. »
Whatever happens, Goyette will never regret the big decisions he’s made over the years, including choosing OHL over the NCAA.
“Of course my trip was special, and sometimes, after bad news, we wonder: Did we make the right decision? Was that really what was good for me?
“Today I look at it and I am really proud of what my family and I have done. It has been years and years of work. I will be really happy when I hear my name.”
