Owen Power (born November 22, 2002) is a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

for the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He played

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Power was drafted first overall by the Sabres in the

2021 NHL Entry Draft The 2021 NHL Entry Draft was the 59th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on July 23–24, 2021, delayed by one month from its normally scheduled time of June due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the later-than-normal finish of the 2020–21 NHL se ...

Playing career

Power grew up in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

, Ontario. When he became eligible as a junior player, he was selected by the

Flint Firebirds The Flint Firebirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. The team plays home games at the Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center, and operates as a member of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team began play for the 2 ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

in the second round of the 2018 OHL draft and by the

Chicago Steel The Chicago Steel are members of the United States Hockey League, joining the league in 2000. The Steel have played their home games at Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Illinois, since 2015; previously, the team played at Edge Ice Arena in Bensenv ...

of the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

(USHL) in the first round of the 2018 USHL draft. He opted to join the Steel to retain his

NCAA eligibility The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

as he had already verbally committed to playing for the

. As a rookie with the Steel in the 2018–19 season, he was named to the end-of-season All-Rookie Second Team as the Steel advanced to the

Clark Cup The United States Hockey League began in 1961 as a semi-professional ice hockey league. Starting with the 1979–80 season, the league became a strictly Amateur league, and began awarding its champion the Clark Cup Trophy. All champions of the USHL ...

finals. He was then the 2019–20 USHL Defenceman of the Year and led the league's defenceman with 40 points as the Steel earned the regular season title in the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

-shortened season. He then joined the University of Michigan for the 2020–21 season, which ended with the team being forced to withdraw from the postseason due to positive tests for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was considered one of the top prospects for the

. He was selected for the Hockey Canada selection camp. Power was selected first overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by the

, though he elected to return to Michigan for his sophomore season, becoming the first number one overall pick to play college ice hockey since

Erik Johnson Erik Robert Johnson (born March 21, 1988) is an American ice hockey defenseman for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed the "Condor", Johnson previously played for the St. Louis Blues, who selected him with the f ...

in 2006. During the 2021–22 season in his sophomore year, he recorded three goals and 24 assists for 27 points in 29 games. He also had a team-best 44 blocked shots. Before leaving for the Olympics, he led the nation's defenseman in points per game. Following an outstanding season, he was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and was named a finalist for the

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award the following individual honors at the end of each football season. In addition, the ''Chicago Tribune'' awards the Chicago Tribune Silver Football to the most valuable football player of the confer ...

. He was also named an AHCA West Second Team All-American. On April 8, 2022, Power signed a $5.55 million three-year, entry-level contract with the Sabres. Power made his NHL debut on April 12, 2022, in a 5–2 win over the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

. He recorded his first point, an assist on a goal by

Alex Tuch Alex Daniel Tuch ( ; born May 10, 1996) is an American professional ice hockey forward for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the first round, 18th overall, in the 2014 NHL Entry Dra ...

, two days later on April 14 in a 6–2 loss to the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...

. Power scored his first NHL goal on April 21 in a 5–2 win over the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

; he recorded one more in the Sabres' season finale against the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

International play

Power represented

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at the

2021 IIHF World Championship The 2021 IIHF World Championship () took place from 21 May to 6 June 2021. It was originally to be co-hosted by Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia, as the IIHF announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany. Their joint bid won by a very tight margin ...

, where he recorded three assists in 10 games and won a gold medal. He also represented

at the

2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were the 46th edition of the IIHF World Junior Championship, played from August 9–20, 2022 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held from Dece ...

. During the first game of the preliminary round of December 26, 2021, he became the first Canadian defenceman in World Juniors history to score a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

. On January 25, 2022, Power was named to Team Canada's roster to represent

at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

Personal life

Power has an older sister, Emily, who plays lacrosse at the

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

, and a younger brother, Adam. In high school, Power also played basketball, volleyball, and lacrosse. He was a three-time national champion in lacrosse. He has stated that lacrosse helped him in hockey, as he would learn how to find space in the attacking zone.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Owen 2002 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Steel players Ice hockey people from Ontario Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey players National Hockey League first-overall draft picks National Hockey League first-round draft picks Sportspeople from Mississauga Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players of Canada