It seems Sam Reinhart knew all along what the rest of us are only now appreciating.
It wasn't a happy time for the West Vancouver hockey star — it was late October and he'd just been sent back down to junior after his first taste of NHL hockey, a brief stint with the Buffalo Sabres to open the 2014-15 season.
He was bitterly disappointed that he wouldn't spend the year in the NHL, but Reinhart also knew that the trip back to the Western Hockey League's Kootenay Ice freed him up to participate in his second World Junior Hockey Championships. After shaking off the initial shock of getting sent back to junior, Reinhart took out his cellphone and fired off a text to Team Canada coach Benoit Groulx. "Coach, we're going to win the gold medal," it said, or something very close to that.
Less than three months later that prophesy came true as Canada topped Russia 5-4 in a thrilling championship final Monday in Toronto. "Knowing Sam, (I) knew how dedicated and motivated he was for that tournament," Groulx told reporters after the tournament.
Sam's parents Paul and Theresa were in the crowd watching Monday's intense scenes unfold at the Air Canada Centre. Paul, himself a former NHL player, also realized back in October just how serious Sam was about this tournament. "He sent that text to Groulx before he even called us," Paul said with a laugh when the North Shore News caught up with him after the tournament.
Paul was so taken aback by Sam's bold message to the coach that he asked him if anyone had put him up to it. "He said 'no.' He just did it," Paul said. "To me that felt like a sign of just how mature he is and where his focus is.. .. (He was) very disappointed, but very much ready to go on and recognize that this was going to be a great opportunity to put a crowning achievement on his junior career."
We all know now that Sam's boast wasn't just empty words. He backed it up throughout the championships, scoring five goals and notching 11 points to tie for the tournament lead in each category while registering a tournament-best plus-13 rating. His deft second period tip in of a Max Domi shot gave Canada a 5-1 lead in the final and stood up as the game-winning goal after Russia mounted a rapid-fire comeback.
The combination of Reinhart, Domi and Anthony Duclair was Canada's top line basically from the moment the team stepped on the ice for its first pre-tournament practice. And Reinhart, a slick and cerebral centre with a sweet pair of hands, was there at the end too, playing multiple shifts in the dying moments as the Canadians thwarted Russia's desperate final attacks.
"Unbelievable," Reinhart told reporters after receiving his gold medal. "The character in the room prevailed. The depth and character. We didn't panic or tried not to panic throughout the game and stayed with it in the third period. . . . That's the biggest win in my life so far. I'm sure it's going to remain that way for a while."
Following the tournament Reinhart was chosen by the coaches as one of Canada's top-three players and also selected by the media as a tournament all-star. Paul, a defenceman who played with the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks, was happy to see that his offensively gifted son also earned his coach's trust on the defensive end. "I think it was a good illustration and demonstration of his overall game," Paul said of Sam's performance in the final. "Sam had a great tournament. I would say that the vast majority of kids on that team would walk away thinking they were pleased with their contributions, right from Sam all the way through. They got great and worthwhile contributions from every single guy on that team."
The win may give Sam bragging rights in the talented Reinhart family. Sam's older brothers Max and Griffin have also played in the NHL and represented Canada internationally, as has Paul, who won two world championship bronze medals in the 1980s. This win, however, might be the biggest in the Reinhart family so far, said Paul.
"I think that this is the most high profile one," he said. "Whenever you're putting the Canadian jersey on you recognize that it's a special moment. . . . There's a different vibe and a different element of success involved in it. Combined with the Canadian flag, it's obviously something that every player is proud of."
This win will stay with Sam for a long time, even as he moves on to the world of professional hockey, said Paul.
"It's the type of thing that gets talked about for years and years," he said. "It will always be mentioned, even at the NHL level. He was involved in that gold medal at the World Juniors in 2015. That's something that gets talked about and it will never be taken away from you."
