By TERRY PUGH
Despite a less-than stellar record heading into the semi-finals, the Canada West team captured the silver medal at the 2025 World Junior A Challenge last weekend.
Canada West lost 5-1 to the United States in the gold medal final on Saturday, December 13.
The lone goal-scorer for Canada West was Noah Chadi of Edmonton, with assist from Rylan Hue of Saskatoon (Humboldt Broncos, SJHL) and Ethan Stewart of Brandon.
In the bronze medal final, Sweden downed Canada East 5-1.
The World Junior A Challenge, held December 3-13 at Trois Riveries, Quebec, featured all-star players from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and otehr Junior A leagues in Canada, the United States and Sweden. Canada West was coached by Trevor Blevins of Melfort and included Waldheim’s Jaxon Herchak (Kindersley Klippers) and Winnipeg’s Taye Timmerman (Warman Wolverines) and Saskatoon’s Tao Flory (Melfort Mustangs).
In a story posted December 13 on the Hockey Canada website (hockeycanada.ca) Blevins had high praise for his team.
“I thought we were right in the fight the whole game, and we cannot be prouder of our players because our work ethic and structure was there,” said Blevins “[The United States] are very skilled, and we cannot take anything away from them, but our guys can hold their head high.
“It was a great experience for our players, and it was awesome to be part of this tournament. Our group grew very quickly on and off the ice, and what I like about our team is that we stuck together and showed up every day.
“We wanted to get better. Our leadership group and each player in that dressing room really bought in to the messaging. It was a great experience and we cannot thank Hockey Canada for the experience they gave to all of us.’’
As Blevins noted, the team stuck together despite facing an uphill challenge. They got off to a rocky start in pre-tournament play, losing their first game 2-1 to Canada East on December 3, followed by a 5-2 loss to the USA on December 5.
The round-robin portion of the tournament was also tough. They lost 6-2 to Sweden December 7, were edged 4-3 by Canada East on December 8, and bounced 4-0 by the USA on December 10.
But, they came through when it really counted in the playoffs, blanking Canada East 2-0 in their semi-final match-up December 12. Their first win of the tournament punched their ticket to the gold medal final.