Those were the three words that the London Knight’s Max Domi has waited to hear since he was a young child. On January 5, 2015, that dream became a reality.

“It’s something as a kid from Canada you always watch and dream of playing on that team and winning gold,” Domi said. “I was lucky enough to get that opportunity.”

The 19-year-old forward returned home to a full capacity crowd at Budweiser Gardens giving him a standing ovation for his efforts at the 2015 World Junior tournament. In Toronto, he was more than a mere participant, earning the honour as the tournament’s top forward while contributing five goals and five assists to go along with a plus 10 rating.

Playing on the World Junior stage was an unforgettable experience for him.

“It’s at the top [of my hockey career] for sure,” Domi said. “It’s a dream come true to be a part of that and was a lot of fun.”

Now that he is back with the London Knights, the focus is on making the playoffs and maintaining some of the momentum that he was able to establish over the holidays.

In his absence, the Knights were able to string together a record of 7-1-1 putting them right in the middle of the playoff hunt.

However, Domi has returned to a different team than the one he left in mid-December.

General Manager Basil McRae recently decided to trade away veterans Michael McCarron and Dakota Mermis to the Oshawa Generals for youngsters Cliff Pu, Josh Sterk and draft picks. While those trades may signal that management is looking toward next season, Domi is still focused on their original goal.

“You just want to help the team win, so that’s something that we are hoping to accomplish here,” he said.

Whether or not there are any lingering effects from the World Junior tournament remain to be seen.

“I don’t know [yet], I couldn’t tell you,” he said. “I am still a little tired right now from [the tournament] with just a couple days to regroup, and we’ll see [how it goes].”

The Knights host two home games this week, one versus the Kitchener Rangers on January 20 and the other against the Sarnia Sting on January 23.

If the Knights are hoping to make a deep playoff run this year, the team is going to need some more big performances from its local hero.