Mark Owuya may not have stuck around long in Toronto but his name will ring familiar to many.

Arguably Owuya is best known as “Mark In Da Park,” his rapping persona on popular Swedish talent show ‘Idol.’

He and his brother Sebastian both played junior hockey in Sweden with the latter drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2010.
Two years younger than Mark, Sebastian continues to play lower tier hockey in his homeland.

A product of the youth system in Djurgårdens, Owuya went on loan to gain experience in HockeyAllsvenkan before finally recieving an opportunity in the top Swedish tier during the 2010-11 season.
He would record the best save percentage of all goaltender’s that season and by April of 2011, had penned a two-year entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Owuya spent his debut season in North American spent between the ECHL and AHL.

Despite that, it proved a very promising and successful campaign.

A .930 save percentage and record of 16-5-3 helped propel the Reading Royals into the play-offs.
Owuya played a small part in the playoff campaign that fell short with a .934Sv% through five outings.

The Toronto Marlies were primarily backstopped by Ben Scrivens in 2011-12, who took over half the starts but the remainder were split between Jussi Ryannas and Owuya.

The Swedish goaltender posted some incredible numbers, albeit behind a very defensively talented Marlies team.
A 1.94 GAA and .929 Sv% led to an 11-5-1 record.

While it’s not fair to line those stats up against Scrivens who played more games, Owuya’s stats were far more impressive than those of Rynnas with the Finnish goaltender having had three more outings.

Owuya’s sophomore season in Toronto was nowhere near as good and ultimately put paid to his time in North America.

In eleven AHL outings, the Stockholm native posted a .883 save percentage, winning just four of those starts.

Six outings with the now-defunct Las Vegas Wranglers was followed by a mini stint with the Reading Royals which allowed the netminder to finish on a high.

After recording a regular-season victory, Owuya went on to play five playoff games, posting a .929Sv% and playing a small role at the Royals went on to become Kelly cup Champions.

The Swedish native would only go on to play two more full seasons as a professional.

Returning home to Sweden and Luleå HF proved fruitful for the team and player, initially.
The following off-season, Owuya would find himself suspended in July 2014 for failing to provide a doping test within the regulations.

He broke the rules of the test by going to the toilet alone without the supervisor attending before he did his test.

Owuya was said to call the suspension a joke and claimed that it was a misunderstanding.

His appeal against the suspension was successful despite much hand-wringing and Owuya would go on to make thirteen appearances for KHL team Medvescak Zagreb.

Somewhat surprisingly, the goaltender would return to North America for one last shot, in the ECHL for Utah Grizzlies.
Though enjoying a modicum of success in the regular season, which earned him a couple of loan spells to AHL teams, Owuya would retire after the Grizzlies fell short in the play-offs.

Having retired so early (Owuya is just 31 years of age at the time of writing), there were many paths open for the next chapter of his life.

Owuya has entered the business world and is the Co-Founder & CTO of Woshapp, a car washing company based in Stockholm.

You can find a little bit more information about the end of his career and his career outside of hockey in this interview https://hockeysverige.se/2018/12/16/mark-owuya-om-livet-efter-hockeykarriaren

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