It may not be the medal he wanted, but it's one stemming from an experience he won't ever forget.
All Prince George Cougars goaltender Taylor Gauthier could do Tuesday night (Jan. 5) was watch as his Canadian teammates fell to the United States 2-0 in the final of the 2021 World Junior Hockey Championships, settling for second place at the bubble tournament.
He acted as the third goaltender throughout the Edmonton event as Devon Levi stopped 19 of 21 shots in the loss.
Gauthier joins Cats' alumni Brett Connolly (2011) and Dan Hamhuis (2002) as silver medallists with Canada's Under-20 team.
A Prince George Cougar has yet to hoist the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship trophy since the franchise moved to northern B.C. in 1994.
Gauthier receives his medal & moves over to Bowen Byram 🥈 Canadian players being very gracious when coming to the table, all hugging their captain in thanking him for coming in place of injured Kirby Dach | #CityOfPG pic.twitter.com/PmI2Sakn1L
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) January 6, 2021
Canada has now lost its fourth straight meeting with their southern neighbours in a World Junior gold-medal game, adding to the defeats in 2017, 2010 and 2003.
The Canadians were undefeated at 6-0 during the 2021 tournament and aiming to repeat as gold-medal winners, but ran into a strong American team.
The U.S., which finished sixth in 2020, won six straight games to capture its fifth under-20 title following a round-robin loss to Russia on opening day.
Gauthier was one of two Prince George Cougars in Edmonton since Christmas Day (Dec. 25) as Filip Koffer represented the Czech Republic and lost to Canada in the quarter-finals.
He scored the game-winning goal against Russia in a 2-0 preliminary victory, arguably one of the bigger upsets of the World Juniors this year.
Both Gauthier and Koffer are still eligible to return to the 2022 IIHF tournament should they receive invitations home their respective countries, which is set to return to Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- with files from The Canadian Press
