Souliere making the most of 67’s stay
This is not where Matthew Souliere thought he’d be at this point of the season.
The 12th-round pick in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection has been playing with the OJHL’s Trenton Golden Hawks this season, where he has been one of the club’s more productive players, scoring 44 points in 35 games, but in the past week, he’s been an Ottawa 67.
At a team workout early last week, Souliere’s phone started buzzing. When he picked it up, his eyes got wide reading James Boyd’s name on his screen. He answered the phone and heard the 67’s General Manager’s unmistakable voice ask him if he’d be willing to join the team in Kingston to make his OHL debut.
“The feelings that went through my head and my body were just unreal,” Souliere explained. “It was the culmination of all the hard work I put into this. The OHL was what I always dreamed of growing up, so hearing that was surreal.”
The London, Ontario native packed up his car and made the drive to the Limestone City. Butterflies in his stomach when he arrived at Slush Puppie Place, Souliere got settled in the locker room, seeing his number 13 67’s jersey for the first time, before the coaches called him in for a meeting.
They ran over the team systems, which the 18-year-old picked up about as fast as anyone could have asked for. Any time he was unsure of something, there was a helping hand in the locker room there for him right away to answer his questions.
Though the OJHL is one of the top junior ‘A’ leagues in Canada, Souliere still felt a big difference coming from the 948-seat Duncan McDonald Memorial Community Gardens.
“You definitely have to be way quicker with the puck,” he said. “The pace is a big step up, but after the first shift, I got the nerves out.”
A few days later, he was back in the lineup for the Barber Poles, as they hosted the Frontenacs. With his father in attendance, Souliere crashed the net in the third period, where Frankie Marrelli found him with a cross-crease pass.
The big winger kept his stick on the ice, and was rewarded, scoring his first career OHL goal on home ice.
“It was surreal,” Souliere said. “It was a nice pass from Frankie. I honestly blacked out and I wasn’t even able to celebrate. I just waited for my teammates to come hug me. Just hearing the crowd roar was crazy.”
Still unsigned by the Barber Poles, Souliere is taking things day by day. This week, he skated with the Barber Poles at practice and boarded the bus for Barrie.
With a good head on his shoulders, the only thing he’s worried about is doing the best he can to prove he belongs, believing the rest will take care of itself.
“I just want to do my job and positively impact the team,” Souliere said. “Hopefully I can leave a good footprint.”
Becoming more comfortable with his surroundings every passing day, Souliere is eagerly anticipating this weekend’s road trip, particularly the stop in Guelph on Sunday, where a party of 11 which includes his parents and girlfriend will be on hand.
“It’s really cool being able to see them in the crowd,” Souliere said. “It’s great to share that experience.
