The 18-year-old goaltender ended up playing the complete game for Team White at the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton on Thursday night after fellow goaltender Nico Daws of the Guelph Storm went down with an upper body injury.
And while things didn’t turn out perfectly in a 5-3 victory for Team White, the chance to take the ice in one of the most heavily scouted games of the season was one he wasn’t about to complain about.
“The more you can showcase yourself to these scouts, you should take the opportunity,” Gould said on WHL.ca. “It was sad to hear that Nico went down, but I was ready to play the full 60.”
Gould would go on to make 27 saves on the night as Team Red would take a 2-1 lead out of the first period before a second-period surge saw White take a 4-2 lead into the final frame.
“There were some bad bounces here and there, there were a couple of turnovers, a couple of bad rebounds as well,” Gould said. “The pace was super high. Obviously everyone here is very good and the shots were fast, the passes were fast and the guys can skate fast. It was really fun to be out there and a great experience for sure.”
Jeremie Poirier (Saint John, QMJHL) and Jack Quinn (Ottawa, OHL) scored for Red in the first period with Kaiden Guhle of the Prince Albert Raiders scoring for White.
Tyson Foerster (Barrie, OHL) scored twice in the second period, with Braden Schneider of the Brandon Wheat Kings adding their other goal in the frame. Cole Perfetti (Saginaw, OHL) added an empty netter for White before Dawson Mercer capped things off with Red’s final goal with a minute remaining.
However things ended up, Gould was plenty impressed as to the calibre of play on the night.
“It’s just how hard everyone works, every guy,” he said when asked about takeaways from the evening. “They’re doing what they need to do on the ice, they’re doing what they need to off the ice, no one is really taking a second off. Everyone is working whether it’s on the puck or off the puck and you have to match that as a goalie.”
The Warriors are back on the ice tonight when they host the Prince George Cougars. Game time is 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place.
