North Bay’s Nicklas Huard is returning to the historic city of Dresden located in Eastern Germany to continue his hockey career.
The former star at the University of Guelph played parts of three seasons in the ECHL with the Cincinnati Cyclones before departing for an opportunity in Germany last fall.
In that first season in the DEL 2, he registered 19 goals along with 22 assists for 41 points in 51 games with Dresdner Eislöwen Eishockeyclub.
“On-ice, the best way I can describe playing pro in Germany - especially Dresden - is it is like having a soccer atmosphere (club flags, chants, drums, heckling etc.) at a hockey game,” Huard told BayToday.ca.
“The style of play I feel suits my game as well as it is typically more speed, skill and slightly more offensive than North America because of the bigger sheet. Away from the rink, was one of the bigger eye openers for me as this country; especially this city, is filled with rich history and unreal architecture.”
Huard is grateful for the opportunity in the DEL 2, especially since each team can only carry four imports on their roster.
“This opportunity for me, like every year, is extremely important because jobs overseas are getting harder and harder to come by and you want to prove to the staff, teammates, and yourself that they picked the right import to do the job,” he said.
Huard, who finished his degree at the University of Guelph this off-season, is hoping his club will make the playoffs this season and he hopes to improve his personal statistics on the way.
“The organization did a very good job at building a contender this season as we are very skilled and deep with our roster, so it should be an exciting year for our squad,” he said.
