Connor Bedard sees the reminder every time he’s back home.
His gold medal from the last world junior hockey championship — a tournament that was moved to the summer and almost didn’t happen because of COVID-19 — hangs in the 17-year-old phenom’s bedroom.
And the presumptive No. 1 pick at the 2023 NHL draft is eager for more.
“Feels like when you win it, it lasts 10 minutes,” Bedard said. “You want that again right away.”
Another opportunity is right around the corner.
Bedard headlines a star-studded Canadian roster that will be looking to secure the country’s 20th podium-topping performance at the event set to open Boxing Day in Halifax and Moncton, N.B.
Apart from the North Vancouver, B.C., product, already being compared to the likes of Connor McDavid and other franchise-altering talents, Canada boasts a trio of NHL players loaned to the national team in Shane Wright, Dylan Guenther and Brandt Clarke.
“World juniors are something that you grew up watching as a kid and dream playing in,” said Wright, a centre selected No. 4 overall by the Seattle Kraken at the 2021 draft. “A huge honour.”
“We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves,” added Guenther, a forward with the Arizona Coyotes. “One last shot at winning a world junior championship is special.”
Bedard said Canada’s roster will feature “a bit of everything.”
“Whenever you’re assembling a team across Canada, it’s going to be pretty good,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of size, we’ve got speed, skill. It’s huge getting those [NHL] guys back.
“Those are all impact players in the best league in the world.”
Canada’s World Junior squad shows no mercy in rout of Slovakia
Josh Roy scored and added an assist as Canada defeated Slovakia 6-1 in World Junior pre-competition action Wednesday.
Adam Fantilli — also in the conversation at the top of the upcoming NHL draft — has been impressed with the roster top-to-bottom.
“The best players in the country in one spot,” he said. “Great to see what everybody can do.”
Canada opens the tournament Monday against Czechia, the country commonly known as the Czech Republic, as part of a group playing out of Halifax’s Scotiabank Centre that includes Sweden, Germany and Austria.
The other side of the bracket is set for Moncton’s Avenir Centre and will feature the United States, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia and Latvia.
Like at the reimagined August event in Edmonton, Russia is banned due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The 2023 tournament was originally slated for the Russian cities of Novosibirsk and Omsk before being moved to North America.
Home-soil crowd, sky-high expectations
Canada, which sits as the favourite, also enters with the pressure of a home-soil crowd and sky-high expectations.
“A privilege,” said head coach Dennis Williams. “You want to be put in these positions. We have to make sure we have our players able to be play uncomfortable — being comfortable at being uncomfortable in those situations.”
Canadian winger Brennan Othmann said the group will be able to attack in a number of different ways.
“Our back end is mean and solid and tough, and our forwards are skilled and big and strong,” he said. “You’re going to get an unbelievable Canada team coming at you.”
“I see a lot of talent,” added Clarke, a Los Angeles Kings defenceman set for his first world juniors. “And there’s guys that can play lower in the lineup, can grind it out, can win puck battles that are really tough to play against.”
Hockey Canada director of player personnel Alan Millar said there’s no doubt skill was a focus in roster construction.
“But at the same time, we want to have heaviness throughout our lineup,” he said. “We want to play fast, we want to play hard, and we want to compete and put teams on their heels.”
The tournament also comes at a time where the sport’s national organization is undergoing significant change following a disastrous 2022 of ugly headlines related to its handling of sexual assault allegations and payouts to victims.
Hockey Canada has a new board of directors and should have a freshly minted CEO in the new year.
Documents reveal new details about alleged junior hockey sexual assault
Recently filed court documents lay out why police are seeking search warrants to further their investigation into five members of the 2018 World Junior hockey team they believe were involved in an alleged sexual assault of a woman in London, Ont. None of the police allegations have been tested in court and no charges have been laid.
The players and coaching staff at the world juniors have no connection to the scandals, but they’re still going to be wearing the logo — and know there will be a lot of scrutiny.
“We want to make sure we keep that focus on how we do things both on and off the ice,” Willliams said. “We want to minimize any distractions — whether it’s through the pressure or anything on the outside.
“Our guys are coming in excited, our guys are coming in determined.”
And gold — just like every other international tournament Canada enters — is on their mind.
“All the guys that are coming back really want that,” Bedard said of the country’s eight returning players from the summer.
“And for the guys that are new, it’s something that we want to give them.”
New Brunswick sets terms for players’ conduct during World Juniors
New Brunswick, co-host of the World Juniors, is putting direct financial pressure on Hockey Canada to keep its players from engaging in illegal or unethical conduct during the tournament, according to the province’s contract with the hockey organization.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.
The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.
Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.
At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.
Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.
Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.
“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.
“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”
Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.
The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.
“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.
Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.
“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”
Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.
He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.
Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.
“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.
“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.
Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.
Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.
“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”
Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.
Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.
Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.
Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.
Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.
“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
