World Juniors: Gold medal victory a special one for Canada

EDMONTON –

Canada’s under-20 males’s hockey group obtained to know adversity intimately over the previous year-and-a-half.

The trials and tribulations paid off Saturday night time because the group received gold on the world junior hockey championship in Edmonton.

After going up 2-0 halfway via the second interval, the group noticed Finland roar again to tie the sport 2-2 within the third and power extra time the place a highlight-reel save by captain Mason McTavish was a championship-winning purpose by Kent Johnson on the different finish of the ice.

“It is nearly a year-and-a-half since our first coaching camp so for all of that onerous work to have form of paid off, it is simply so particular,” McTavish stated, gold medal draped round his neck.

The group initially got here collectively in the summertime of 2021, with the unique event set to be performed in Edmonton and Purple Deer, Alta., that December.

Rising COVID-19 circumstances amongst gamers and officers induced the forfeiture of video games and the occasion was halted after simply 4 days.

The Worldwide Ice Hockey Federation promised to replay the event, however the one obtainable time was in August — a interval the place younger hockey gamers are sometimes gearing up for coaching camps.

Within the meantime, Canadian hockey got here underneath hearth as sexual assault allegations emerged towards gamers of two former world junior groups. Hockey Canada confronted intense scrutiny for the way it dealt with the allegations, with the federal authorities freezing the group’s funding and big-name sponsors pulling their assist.

A number of gamers opted not to participate in the summertime event, creating large turnover on the Canadian squad, however the group persevered, stated head coach Dave Cameron.

“This can be a robust sufficient event to win when it is a regular event at Christmas time,” he stated. “And for this group to come back in right here underneath the cloud that they got here in underneath, with what was happening with Hockey Canada, and the turnover, we had seven or eight guys that did not come.

“Simply the dedication. This group simply caught with it. That form of was a theme.”

Canada was undefeated throughout the event, successful all seven video games it performed. The group trailed simply as soon as, falling behind 1-0 in a preliminary sport to Czechia, the nation generally often called the Czech Republic, earlier than finally recording a 5-1 victory.

McTavish — the event’s most useful participant — led with 17 factors (eight targets, 9 assists), tying Wayne Gretzky and Eric Lindros for the second-most factors ever scored by a Canadian participant on the world juniors.

“They’re clearly within the Corridor of Fame and to also have a quarter of their profession, what that they had and the success that they had could be successful for me,” McTavish stated. “I really feel so honoured. I really feel like I do not belong there.”

An 18-year-old Anaheim Geese’ prospect, McTavish has had a busy yr. He suited up in 9 video games for the NHL group earlier than returning to the Ontario Hockey League and in the end serving to the Hamilton Bulldogs to an Ontario Hockey League championship and berth within the Memorial Cup the place they completed second. In-between, he pulled on the Maple Leaf for Canada on the Beijing Olympics.

Profitable world juniors gold, although, is a dream come true, he stated.

“I feel any championship you win is so particular,” he stated. “Right here, it is an unbelievable feeling. Any time you get an opportunity to win something, it is among the best emotions on the planet and it is so addicting. So hopefully I can do it once more.”

McTavish is certainly one of 11 gamers on the Canadian squad eligible to play once more when the 2023 event takes place in Moncton and RisePEI.

Defenceman Olen Zellweger believes the group has loads to construct on shifting ahead.

“I feel coming to this event, the expertise and what you be taught is invaluable,” stated Zellweger, who had 11 factors (two targets, 9 assists) within the event.

“So coming again, I’ve a greater understanding of how laborious it’s to win, how dedicated you must be, how tight as a gaggle you must be to come back out on high.”

Whereas the 2022 world juniors was an odd affair — held through the sizzling summer season with out the packed crowds usually seen on the December occasions — the group has discovered that the event comes with a whole lot of shut video games and a whole lot of expectations, Cameron stated.

Having lived via that may serve the younger gamers properly, the coach added.

“Actually they will draw on the expertise that that they had right here and the strain,” he stated. “So after they do go to that event, there must be no surprises about what to anticipate.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Aug. 20, 2022.