Canadian U18 gold medal mined with N.B. influence

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Just before Team Canada was to leave Finland and return home after winning the World Under 18 hockey title, head coach Gardiner MacDougall of the University of New Brunswick met with some of the joyous parents.

“I asked them the over/under after two periods on our team winning,” said the victorious Canadian coach after Canada rallied from 3-1 hole in the second-period and downed the United States 6-4 to win the tournament to win gold with a perfect 7-0 record at the 10-team event.

The Canadians saved their best for last, thanks in large part to three power-play goals, and when it was over, MacDougall, assistant coach Travis Crickard of the Saint John Sea Dogs, Riverview defenceman Spencer Gill of the Rimouski Oceanic, Moncton Wildcats forward Caleb Desnoyers and Hockey Canada’s athletic therapist Kevin Elliott of Saint John were singing the national anthem as world champions.

“Right from the first day, our goal was the longer we played in the tournament, the better we should get and the longer the game goes, the better we should get,” said MacDougall afterward. “It was quite fitting our third period (Sunday) was our best period of the tournament.”

The win extended an incredible campaign for MacDougall, who was 43-0 in winning the University Cup with the Reds in March and then 7-0 in the World Under 18s, 9-0 if you include a pair of pre-tournament wins.

The success led to immediate speculation from veteran RDS reporter Stephane Leroux, reporting the coach would soon be named head coach of the Moncton Wildcats, a report which backed an earlier national report from Jeff Marek of Sportsnet, saying the Cats had reached out to MacDougall about their vacant coaching job.

“We have been totally focused on this,” MacDougall said from Finland before boarding his flight back to Canada. “If anything comes of all of these rumours, I will let you know.”

Still in the post-game exhilaration, MacDougall recapped what appeared to be a game that was getting away from them.

But the Canadians, thanks to tournament best goaltender Carter George, weathered the U.S. storm and in the third period, star forward Gavin McKenna, who is not eligible for the NHL draft until 2026, took over, tying the game midway with goals late in the second and midway through the third. He then clinched the win with an empty netter in the final moments after the US. turned a 5-3 deficit into a 5-4 contest in the final tension-packed moments.

“As a separator, we talked about being grittier and we certainly were,” MacDougall said as Canada outshot the Americans 14-4 in the third frame. “We hung in there in the second period and in the third, we probably dominated and found a way to win a world championship.”

The game was packed with New Brunswick content.

Desnoyers, the Wildcats No. 1 pick in last year’s draft, joined the roster in the third game and played at centre between McKenna and Porter Marone on the team’s top line.

The 17-year-old finished with five points in five games, a plus-eight rating and a 63.46 face off winning percentage, sixth best in the event.

“Caleb had an unbelievable tournament for being the second youngest player on our team and playing centre between Martone and McKenna. It was a tremendous experience for him,” MacDougall said.

“This will serve him well for the upcoming Hlinka (tourney) and then for his career with the Moncton Wildcats. He is all about winning.”

As for Gill, the six-foot-four blueliner who played every game rotating on the defensive corps, MacDougall said, “to be one of the top-7 defencemen in Canada is a huge, huge honour. In the semifinal, he made a key play for one of our goals.

“I can’t say enough about how great a person he is and this will be a great confidence booster for his career going forward.”

Gill finished with two assists in the event in seven games, including a helper to get Canada going early in the 5-4 semifinal win over Sweden on Saturday. He is Central Scouting’s top ranked QMJHL player for this year’s NHL draft in Las Vegas.

Desnoyers is not eligible for the NHL draft until 2025.

Additionally, Crickard and MacDougall, who teamed together for a Memorial Cup victory in Saint John in 2022, were at it again with another trophy to hold aloft at centre ice.

“I am two-for-two with him,” MacDougall said. “He did our penalty kill and our penalty kill was the best in the tournament.”

Elliott, the director of medical services for Hockey Canada, spent many years with the Charlottetown Islanders, connected with the group in his specific role as athletic therapist, which MacDougall, a native of Bedeque, P.E.I., valued tremendously.

“To be able to work with Kevin Elliott, you hear so many great stories from P.E.I. and now with Hockey Canada. He is first class, with the professional job he does.”

Canada was 4-0 in preliminary round play and then defeated Latvia in the quarter-final before downing Sweden in the semifinal and then the Americans in the most dramatic of fashions.

“It is an exhilarating feeling and I am so proud of the efforts of the group,” MacDougall said.