EDMONTON, AB - Patience has paid off for Dylan Holloway.
The Oilers first-round selection from the 2020 NHL Draft has been named to Hockey Canada's 25-man roster for the World Junior Championship starting Christmas Day at Rogers Place.
"It's crazy, it's an unbelievable feeling," Holloway said shortly after the roster was announced. "Growing up as a kid, the World Juniors at Christmas time was the biggest deal ever, so now that I'm able to play in that, it's a dream come true and I'm just so pumped."
The 14th-overall pick persevered through a pair of overlapping quarantines, one personal after his arrival from the University of Wisconsin followed by the camp-wide pause, and will now don his country's colours at the U-20 championship.
Holloway scored for Team Red during Thursday night's final instrasquad scrimmage and had goals in each of his two games with the NCAA's Badgers before arriving at the selection camp.
The 19-year-old scored a goal and two assists for Canada's gold-medal squad at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton. Holloway also had four goals and four assists in 11 games for Team Canada West during his two World Junior A Challenge appearances.
Team Canada will now travel from Red Deer to Edmonton and their first World Juniors pre-tournament game will be Monday, Dec. 21 against Sweden.
WORLD JUNIORS: Holloway makes Team Canada
Oilers 2020 first-round pick selected for 25-man roster that will compete at World Juniors in Edmonton