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‘Great story’ Holloway, 27, to make NHL debut tonight

AHL Ice Caps Penguins Hockey

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ Josh Archibald (15) (40) carries the puck ahead of St John’s Ice Caps Bud Holloway (21) during the first period of an AHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (Mark Moran/The Citizens’ Voice via AP)

AP

It took a while, but Bud Holloway has finally made the big leagues.

Holloway -- whose real name is “George,” by the way -- will make his long-awaited NHL debut tonight when his Habs take on the Devils in New Jersey.

The 27-year-old, taken by L.A. in the third round of the 2006 draft, has traveled a long and winding road to get where he is today.

The WHL Seattle product spent all of his time in the Kings organization at the minor league level, with both ECHL Ontario and AHL Manchester (he appeared in nearly 200 games with the Monarchs over a three-year span.)

Always a capable scorer, Holloway jumped the pond in 2011 and signed in Sweden.

There, he emerged as a star — in his first year, he set a record for most points in a SHL postseason (23 in 19 games) and, in his second, became just the second player in league history to score eclipse the 70-point plateau.

In ’14-15, Holloway signed in Switzerland and continued to be a productive scorer, with 37 points in 42 games for SC Bern.

This year he’s been on fire for the AHL IceCaps, scoring 20 points in 18 games.

“This is a great story,” Habs head coach Michel Therrien told ECHL.com. “The guy has showed a lot of resilience through his career to come back after playing a few years in Europe, and he did really well for [St. John’s].

“For him to get an opportunity to play his first game in the NHL, those are great stories and he certainly deserves to finally get a shot in the NHL because he’s had success wherever he goes.”

Based on yesterday’s line rushes, it looks like Holloway will play on Montreal’s fourth line with Paul Byron and Brian Flynn.

Related: Habs recall former Swedish league scoring ace Holloway