Watch Red Wings Prospect Sebrango scoring for Canada

Goal scoring isn’t considered the forte of Detroit Red Wings prospect Donovan Sebrango. He’s 51 games into his pro career with the Grand Rapids Griffins and the 19-year-old defenseman is still seeking his first AHL goal.

At the junior level, Sebrango scored 13 times in 118 OHL games with the Kitchener Rangers. He was displaying that offensive flair in Canada’s opening game of the World Junior Championship against the Czech Republic.

Part of being an offensive contributor from the back end is being able to read the play and know when to jump up into the rush. Sebrango executed that move to perfection to tally for Canada and tie the score at 3-3 with 29 seconds to play in the opening period.

All tied up! 👔#WorldJuniors | #OurGameIsBack | @D_sebrango3 pic.twitter.com/Q1ux5k3Oih

— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) December 27, 2021

Trailing the play into the zone and finding a seam in the Czech backcheck, Sebrango snuck up the far side of the rink. He was wide open as he took a cross-ice backhand feed from Cole Perfetti and snapped a quick wrist shot past Czech goaltender Jakub Malek.

Canada ended up winning the game 6-4.

Strong Sebrango Support

No one was taking more delight in that outcome than Sebrango’s mom. “I could see him creeping in and I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s going to do it,’” Kim Sebrango told TSN. “I just couldn’t believe it. Honestly, I’m going to cry right now. I think I just stopped crying.”

Ready for the @HockeyCanada game tonight! Best of luck @D_sebrango3! @CIHAcademy @TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/KbrvAJcMMi

— Thomas Lynn (@thomaslynn) December 26, 2021

Few players on the Canadian team can draw upon a bigger base of fan support than Sebrango. Aside from his family, he was also drwaing support from the Canadian International Hockey Academy. That’s where he played his prep hockey. They were proudly displaying their Sebrango colors on social media as they were watching the game.

The 63rd overall selection by Detroit in the 2020 NHL entry draft, Sebrango is the third Griffins player in four years to play in the World Juniors. Rookie Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider played for Germany in 2020. Current Red Wings forward Filip Zadina was skating for the Czech Republic in 2019.