Harris: 'I didn't picture being in Tampere right now'

MONTREAL -- Jordan Harris has a pretty good reason for missing Northeastern University's Commencement ceremony at Fenway Park on Friday.

The 21-year-old defenseman, who recently completed his undergraduate degree in business administration, is currently at the IIHF World Championship in Finland with the U.S. Men's National Team.
As much as he'd love to celebrate his academic achievement alongside his peers and former Huskies teammates in Boston, proudly sporting his country's colors instead is a good alternative.
"I didn't picture being in Tampere right now, but if there's one thing I'd rather be doing than graduation, it would be playing hockey at the World Championship," said Harris with a laugh. "I can live with this one."

The smooth-skating blueliner will have to settle for receiving his diploma in the mail, which suits him just fine under the circumstances.
After all, the accomplishment speaks for itself.
"It's been so many years of doing homework in the car, on the way to practice and in hotel rooms, and it's kind of weird to think that for the near future I won't be taking any more classes," mentioned Harris. "My parents are definitely very happy for me that I got to finish it, and so am I. Just to have that degree from a school like Northeastern, it's invaluable."
Speaking of his parents, Harris was driving home from Montreal to Haverhill, MA with his father, Peter, on May 4 when Team USA general manager Ryan Martin invited him overseas.
The former third-round selection says "it was definitely a little surprising" to get the call, but he was honored to join the group.
"You never know how many opportunities you get to do stuff like this. It's great to be able to learn from some of the guys here like Seth Jones and Nate Schmidt," said Harris, who previously participated in the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship. "It's amazing to see how my path has gone over the years. You work hard and you never know how things are going to play out. You hope for the best. Just to see how far things have come, though, it's really neat to look back. You kind of have to wrap your mind around everything that's happening."

The last seven weeks have been a whirlwind for the youngster, to say the least.
From closing out his NCAA career, to signing a two-year, entry-level contract with the Canadiens, to making his NHL debut and playing 10 games with Montreal, to ultimately being called upon by Team USA brass, Harris has been rather busy since late March.
And he wouldn't change a thing because he knows just how lucky he is.
"It's definitely been a long year, but this is the cherry on top. The thing I think about most when stuff like this happens is all the amazing people that you get to meet and interact with along the way. I've met dozens and dozens of people over the last month, and I know it takes way more than me to make things like this happen," praised Harris. "I've definitely been fortunate with everyone I've been surrounded with and I've had the opportunity to meet. I like to think of these experiences as more of a team thing and a family thing."
While the Kimball Union Academy product is flying solo in Finland to start, he expects his girlfriend, Codie, to join him soon.
He added that his mother, Virginia, is disappointed she couldn't make the trip given her Finnish roots. Her maiden name is Heikkinen.
Harris and Team USA open preliminary-round play against Latvia on Friday at 9:20 a.m. ET.
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