After suffering a devastating shootout loss to the Americans in 2017 on home soil, Team Canada bounced back at the 2018 World Junior Championship with a thrilling 3-1 gold medal victory over the Swedes last night in Buffalo.
A late marker from Tyler Steenbergen put the Canucks ahead with 1:40 left in regulation to give the country its first title since 2015.
While the Canadians joyfully shed their gloves and sticks as time ran down, the Swedes sat defeated on the other end of the ice, a feeling they have become all too familiar with in recent years. In six championship appearances since the 2008 tournament, the Blue and Yellow have captured just a single gold medal. Their last showing ended with a devastating overtime loss to Finland in 2014.
As the players received their less coveted silver medals, team captain and New York Rangers prospect Lias Andersson decided against keeping his and shockingly threw it to a lucky fan in the crowd.
That thing may have some serious value if Anedersson pans out as a pro.
Following the game, Andersson faced the media and explained himself. The 19-year-old said that he hasn’t checked on the silver medal he captured at the 2015 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in years, and that the fan wanted his most recent second place award more than he did.
That’s tough to hear.
The controversial throw has raised questions in the hockey world. Was Andersson showing compete and a true hatred towards losing or was he simply being a poor sport? Fans will have their own opinion, but everyone can agree that no one enjoys losing.
Andersson will be hungrier than ever to capture gold when he eventually matures into the pro scouts expect him to become. He finished the tournament with three goals in seven games.
