Boston College Players Earn Three Gold Medals and a Silver at the World Junior Tournament
The chatter started before Team USA’s first game had even finished. Was the stage too big for Spencer Knight? Should Dustin Wolf be the starter?
On Christmas night, the United States began the tournament with a 5-3 loss against Russia. The wheels fell off in the second period, as America allowed three goals, before Knight was pulled with the deficit at 4-1. Wolf didn’t allow a goal once he took over and shut out Austria the following evening. From there, the goaltending competition became the topic of the tournament leading up to the December 29 game against the Czech Republic.
Providence and United States bench boss Nate Leaman decided to stick with the original plan to go Knight-Wolf-Knight to begin the tournament and was rewarded for it. The BC net-minder became the first US goalie to record back-to-back shutouts in the World Junior Tournament, blanking the Czechs and the Swedes.
Knight, along with Matt Boldy and Drew Helleson, won Group B with America, while Alex Newhook and Canada took Group A behind a 4-0-0-0 record and a +29 goal differential.
Earning the top two seeds in the playoff round, Canada breezed through to the finals, while the United States faced challenges from Slovakia and Finland.
America secured a much-closer-than-it-needed-to be 5-2 victory over the Slovaks and won one of the better games of the tournament 4-3 against Finland in the semifinals. The United States dominated the first two periods and led 3-1 entering the third. For the second-straight game, Finland rebounded from a two-goal deficit in the final 20, pulling even on a puck that snuck under Knight’s arm with three minutes remaining. Uzbekistan-born Arthur Kaliyev saved the United States’ hopes with a wicked wrist-shot in the final 90 seconds of the game.
En route to the finals, BC’s three skaters, along with Knight, stood out. Matt Boldy and Alex Newhook, both of whom were cut from the final rosters last season, proved they belonged in the 2021 tournament. Boldy tied for fourth in the tournament with five goals, playing alongside Matty Beniers and long-time friend Cole Caufield. Arguably his best performance came in the semifinals against Finland. He got cut around the eye by a high-stick, drawing a double minor. Forty seconds later, he tucked one far side on the penalty kill. Later in the game, he laid out to block a point-blank slapshot with America clinging to a 4-3 lead.
Newhook has played like a man on fire ever since being cut by Team Canada in late 2019. He turned into the most dangerous player in college hockey in the second half of the 2019-20 season, earning himself a selection to this year’s team. On Friday or Saturday, depending on when the players re-enter the country, Newhook will play his first game for BC since the Covid shutdown in March. That’s because the Newfoundland native, like the rest of Team Canada, had to depart for the pre-tournament camp on November. He finished the tournament with three goals and three assists in six games. BC fans held their collective breaths when Newhook took a hard shoulder-to-shoulder hit against Finland in the final game of the group stage. Shaken up, he skated one more shift and missed the remainder of the game. He sat out the quarterfinal victory over the Czech Republic but returned for the semifinals, making an immediate impact scoring 30 seconds into the 5-0 victory over Russia.
Despite being a second round selection, Drew Helleson seemed lost in the shuffle when experts were breaking down the USA’s blue line. Much of the talk centered on captain Cam York and 2020 5th overall selection Jake Sanderson, but Helleson, who proved to be one of the most valuable members of the team as the tournament progressed, received little praise. Helleson started the tournament as the team’s extra defender but quickly moved up to the first pairing alongside Sanderson. He led the US with a plus-nine rating.
The BC teammates met Tuesday night in the highly-anticipated gold medal game. The Canadian roster boasted 19 first round selections, even without injured captain Kirby Dach and 2020 1st overall pick Alexis Lafreniere who opted to prepare for the NHL season with the Rangers. The United States roster featured plenty of talent as well, but the Canadians had bulldozed the competition leading up to the finals. They had outscored opponents 41-4 prior to the United States game and had yet to allow an even-strength goal.
The teams traded opportunities early one, and the US got on the board first when Alex Turcotte tipped home a Helleson shot from the point. Former Boston University standout Trevor Zegras, who was very vocal before the game, extended the US lead with a backhand past Devon Levi.
Following the Zegras goal, Canada tilted the ice towards Knight, generating excellent chances late in the second. Bowen Byram had Canada’s best chance of the period, when he back-handed one off the far post. In the third, Canada outshot America 15-1, but Knight was tall to the task, recoding his third shutout as the US claimed gold for the first time since 2017 and the fifth time overall.