10 CHL players win Gold with USA at 2013 WJC
The U.S. National Junior Team won Gold defeating Sweden 3-1 at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia.
This marks the third Gold Medal victory for the United States following wins in 2010 and 2004.
10 current and former Canadian Hockey League players competed with Team USA:
Tyler Biggs (Oshawa Generals)
Alex Galchenyuk (Sarnia Sting)
John Gibson (Kitchener Rangers)
Ryan Hartman (Plymouth Whalers)
Seth Jones (Portland Winterhawks)
Connor Murphy (Sarnia Sting)
Pat Sieloff (Windsor Spitfires)
Garret Sparks (Guelph Storm)
Vince Trocheck (Saginaw Spirit)
In addition, J.T Miller is a former member of the Plymouth Whalers.
Four current CHL players competed with Sweden earning Silver:
Oscar Dansk (Erie Otters)
Rickard Rakell (Plymouth Whalers)
Victor Rask (Calgary Hitmen)
Nick Sorensen (Quebec Remparts)
The teams combined for 18 shots on goal in the opening period, including 11 by the U.S., but neither could find the back of the net.
Sweden scored what proved to be their only goal of the contest at 1:09 on the power play with Rickard Rakell (Plymouth Whalers) picking up an assist.
Just more than six minutes later, Team USA pulled even with Patrick Sieloff (Windsor Spitfires) contributing an assist on the goal, then pulled ahead at 10:27 of the middle frame to make it 2-1 after 40 minutes.
Vince Trocheck (Saginaw Spirit) clinched the win with an empty-net goal with 16 seconds remaining after accepting a pass from former Whaler J.T Miller.
Gibson, who finished the tournament with a 1.36 goals against average and .955 saves percentage, stopped 26 shots for the U.S. in the win.
Following the Gold Medal Final, several tournament awards were presented:
Best Players Selected by the Directorate:
Best Goalkeeper – John Gibson (USA / Kitchener Rangers)
Best Defenseman – Jacob Trouba (USA)
Best Forward – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (CAN / Red Deer Rebels grad)
Media All-Stars:
Goalkeeper – John Gibson (USA / Kitchener Rangers)
Defenseman – Jacob Trouba (USA)
Defenseman – Jake McCabe (USA)
Forward – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (CAN / Red Deer Rebels grad)
Forward – John Gaudreau (USA)
Forward – Filip Forsberg (SWE)
MVP – John Gibson (USA / Kitchener Rangers)
CHL Players named among Best Players by Coaches:
CAN – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Red Deer Rebels grad)
CAN – Scott Harrington (London Knights)
CAN – Mark Scheifele (Barrie Colts)
CZE – Dmitrij Jaskin (Moncton Wildcats)
CZE – Patrik Bartosak (Red Deer Rebels)
GER – Marvin Cupper (Shawinigan Cataractes)
GER – Tobias Rieder (Kitchener Rangers)
GER – Leon Draisaitl (Prince Albert Raiders)
LAT – Nikita Jevpalovs (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada)
RUS – Mikhail Grigorenko (Quebec Remparts)
SUI – Christian Marti (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada)
USA – John Gibson (Kitchener Rangers)
Congratulations to all award winners and to the 79 past and present CHL players who represented their clubs and competed for their country at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship!
For more information please visit www.worldjunior2013.com.