AKWESASNE — Akwesasne native and recent Anaheim Duck draftee Carey Terrance Jr. held a press conference and meet and greet on Monday at the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort in Hogansburg. It was his first trip home since being selected with the 59th overall pick in the second round of this year’s NHL draft.

Terrance has spoken at length about the importance of using his platform to help represent the indigenous community. The conference was one of the ways Terrance could thank those in the Akwesasne area for their support throughout the draft process.

“For myself, it’s a dream come true for me,” Terrance said with a big smile. “To share this with my family, friends and this whole community, it’s been awesome to share my story. With what I’m going through, the support has been … it’s a lot. It’s unbelievable.”

The journey to the NHL has been lifelong for Terrance, who has sought this moment for as long as he can remember.

“My earliest memories are going with my dad to his beer league and cheering on his team,” he said.

It has taken years of hard work and dedication to reach this milestone. As a new role model for the Akwesasne youth, Terrance wants to instill as much of his knowledge in the younger generation as possible, starting with one word.

Sacrifice.

“The biggest word I’d put in, what I would say to the younger generation, is that it takes a lot of sacrifice,” Terrance stated. “I’ve been gone since eight-grade, and only come back in the summers. It’s what I had to deal with in order to go play more competitive hockey.”

The sacrifices weren’t just his own but extended to family and friends.

“My parents had to sacrifice a lot, my friends, my family,” Terrance recalled. “Even when I was younger and still playing here, my dad would get off of work and drive me an hour and a half for an hour practice. He’d drive me three hours for an hour of practice. Without them, I wouldn’t be here.”

Terrance’s family would also often make the six-hour drive to Erie, Pennsylvania to watch their son compete for the Erie Otters in the Ontario Hockey League. It takes a lot of patience to become a professional hockey player.

Terrance is a prime example that those sacrifices can pay off. Now, he takes the next step toward becoming the best player that he can be as he heads to the best professional hockey league in the world.

While the emotional impact is not lost on Terrance, he says he has tried to remain grounded about being drafted. Getting there is great, but there is more work to be done if he wants to stay.

“It’s just another step in my path,” Terrance told the press. “I’m only 18, some guys play til they’re 40. You could say I’m halfway there, but there’s a lot of steps you have to take. It’s not really emotional, just another step that I have to take.”

Terrance cites Zach Whitecloud of the Vegas Golden Knights and Brandon Montour of the Florida Panthers as inspirations. Both players come from indigenous backgrounds, and both competed against each other in the Stanley Cup finals this past season. Whitecloud’s Vegas squad took down Montour’s Panthers in five games to win the Cup, which is considered to be the hardest trophy to win in professional sports.

Terrance still has a little ways to go before he can join his heroes on the ice. Unlike the NBA and NFL, where players are drafted and go straight to training camp to get ready for the next season, NHL draft picks tend to spend another year or two in college or developmental leagues, similar to the farm team system in professional baseball.

Terrance has been a member of one such league, the OHL, for two seasons now with the Erie Otters. He will return there for a third season after attending a rookie training camp with Anaheim, with a chance to head to their main training camp before the NHL season.