When Eric "E.J." Emery hears his name called during the NHL Entry Draft starting June 28 in Las Vegas, at the city's new Sphere theatre, he'll flash back to memories of first playing hockey in Surrey.
The moment will mark another chapter in Emery's compelling story of a dual-citizen player who has worn U.S.A.
colours for two seasons on his emerging path to the professional game, with college plans first at the University of North Dakota. The six-foot-three, 2006-born defenseman impressed many with his physical skills at the recent NHL Scouting Combine, and projects as an early-second-round pick in Vegas, possibly late in the first round, depending on a team's need for a solid, mobile checker on the back end. He's ranked 39th among North American skaters on .
Emery grew up in the Panorama/Sullivan area, played Surrey Minor and academy hockey at Yale and Burnaby Winter Club, then decided to improve his game at facility in Plymouth, Michigan. What a great decision that turned out to be. "You're not gonna find another place quite like this," Emery raved in a phone call.
"I think once I saw the place here and met the people who work here, it might have been a little back-and-forth in my mind," he said of his 2022 decision to go stateside. "But finding out what this was all about and how they're gonna be able to change my life and change my skills as a hockey player, and in the gym too, it kind of became a no-brainer." Son of American father Eric and Canadian mother Claire, , and w.