Halifax. Canada won another JVM gold last night after great drama.
Scoring player Conor Bedard went goalless in the final. Dylan Guenther scored the decisive goal in the 3-2 overtime victory against the Czech Republic.
– Don’t talk about me. We just won the biggest tournament in the world and I love this group and this country,” Bedard said when interviewed by TSN afterwards.
Canada advanced to its fourth consecutive JVM final and fifth in six years. The Czech Republic played its first final since 2002. The conditions were the toughest the Czechs could have imagined: their home country of Canada in a boiling arena in Halifax.
And the Czech Republic will have to wait at least another year for the long-awaited gold.
For Canada, an exciting game was won, thanks in large part to two birthday boys.
Brennan Osman and Shane Wright celebrated their birthdays on the last day, January 5, and they couldn’t have celebrated in a better way: with assists, goals and golds.
Canada took the lead in the first period. On the power play, Dylan Gunther scored 1-0. The show was hosted by Birthday Boy Brennan Osman.
Four golds in six years
Five minutes into the middle of the period, it is time for the next birthday boy to introduce himself. Team captain Shane Wright, who turned 19 on the day of the final, made it 2-0. An individual performance as Wright ended up serving a backhand.
In the stands, the entire Wright family cheered.
It looked like it was going to be a comfortable ride for Canada to the gold, but with just over seven minutes left in the third period, everything changed.
The first reduced Czech star Jiri Kulich.
And just 56 seconds later, the equalizing goal came when Jakub Koss stepped in to make it 2-2.
The match went to overtime and it took 6.22 before Dylan Ginter scored the decisive goal. Well played by Joshua Roy in two-on-one situations.
Thus, Canada wins its fourth gold in the past six years.
Incredibly powerful result.
Conor Bedard won almost every prize in the tournament but didn’t want to talk about himself after winning:
– Don’t talk about me. We just won the biggest tournament in the world and I love this group and this country. This city was incredible. It was an experience of a lifetime for me. My teammates are my brothers, he said right after the final whistle.
