Canada White wins gold at 2023 U-17 World Hockey Challenge

After finishing dead last in the round-robin, Canada White has won gold at the 2023 World U-17 Hockey Challenge with a 2-1 win over the United States.

Canada White last won gold in 2015, the only time they’ve made it to the championship. No other Canadian team has won since they scrapped the geographical team alignment system for the 2014 fall tournament.

USA kept its medal streak at three consecutive tournaments dating back to the 2019 event – with 2020 and 2021 getting cancelled due to COVID-19.

It didn’t take long for Canada White to score first. At 1:38, Joby Baumuller snagged his first of the tournament off the heels of a pass from Ethan Czata, Canada’s only shot in the opening five minutes of play.

The Americans were the better team throughout the first half, outshooting Canada 14-7. But some good goaltending from Jack Ivankovic helped keep Canada in the lead. By the end of the second, the shots were 19-15 for USA, with Canada showing a bit more urgency in their step.

Finally, with the game nearing the halfway point, the Americans struck gold. With Emile Guite in the box for kneeing, Charlie Trethewey converted on a pass from LJ Mooney to score on the power play at 49:49.

The game needed overtime to solve things. The two teams traded blows until Cameron Schmidt used his speed to create a breakaway midway through the frame. He made no mistake on a backhander on Patrick Quinlan, giving Canada White the 2-1 victory.