Canada’s World Cup roster features 16 IIHF World Junior Championship Gold Medalists

The players named to Team Canada are a who’s who of Canadian hockey; between them, they’ve won 21 Olympic gold medals and 16 more at the IIHF World Championship, and all but one – goaltender Corey Crawford – have previous international experience.

The IIHF World Junior Championship is among their achievements. There are 16 World Juniors alumni in the group, and 14 of them have gold medals to their names; Brad Marchand, John Tavares, and Jonathan Toews lead the way with two each.

Here’s how the World Cup-bound Canadians fared at the World Junior Championships:

PATRICE BERGERON – 6GP 5G 8A 13P (gold medal/MVP/All-Star Team) – 2005 WJC

Because of the NHL lockout, Bergeron joined Team Canada at the 2005 World Juniors one year after making his NHL debut. His professional experience paid off; he formed Canada’s most dangerous line with Sidney Crosby and Corey Perry, and finished with a tournament-leading 13 points to help Canada end an eight-year gold medal drought, earning MVP honors and a spot on the media all-star team in the process.

• 2000 WJC JAY BOUWMEESTER – 7GP 0G 0A 0P (bronze medal)
• WJC 2001 – 7GP 0G 2A 2P (bronze medal)
• 2002 World Junior Championships – 7GP 0G 2A 2P (silver medal/All-Star Team)

Bouwmeester was the youngest player to represent Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship (16 years, 3 months) in 2000, a record he still holds. The defenseman is one of only seven players to have represented Canada’s National Junior Team at three World Juniors and is tied for the most games played with three others (21). Bouwmeester, a consistent presence on the blue line, had a tournament-best +11 in 2002 and was named to the Media All-Star Team.

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WJC BRENT BURNS 2004 – 6GP 0G 6A 6P (silver medal)
Burns has been named the IIHF World Championship’s Best Defenceman twice, in 2008 and 2015. But, as a forward on Canada’s National Junior Team in 2004, he set the physical tone. On loan from the Minnesota Wild, he had six assists in six games, including two in wins over Switzerland and the Czech Republic. He was on a line with Jeff Carter and Ryan Getzlaf.

• SIDNEY CROSBY
• WJC 2004: 6GP 2G 3A 5P (silver medal)
• 2005 World Cup – 6GP 6G 3A 9P (gold medal)

Crosby made his biggest impact one year later, when he tied Éric Dazé’s all-time Canadian record for power-play goals in one World Juniors (five) and helped Canada end an eight-year gold medal drought.

DREW DOUGHTY 2008 WJC – 7GP 0G 4A 4P (gold medal/Best Defenceman/All-Star Team)

Doughty not only won a gold medal for the Czech Republic at the 2008 World Juniors, but also two individual honors. While he only had four points in seven games (two assists against Slovakia and two against Finland), he was recognized for his ability to make opposing offenses work harder; the blueliner was named Best Defenceman by the IIHF Directorate and to the media all-star team.

• RYAN GETZLAF 2004 WJC – 6GP 3G 3A 6P (silver medal)
• 2005 World Cup – 6GP 3G 9A 12P (gold medal)

After settling for silver at the 2004 World Juniors in Helsinki, where he averaged a point per game, Getzlaf was back in red and white a year later, joining what many consider to be the best Canadian team ever. The Regina, Saskatchewan, native was an offensive force, finishing second in Team Canada and tournament scoring with 12 points and scoring 51 seconds into the gold medal game to help Canada win the gold medal.

CLAUDE GIROUX 2008 WJC – 7GP 2G 4A 6P (gold medal)

Giroux tied for second in team scoring in both Pardubice and Liberec, with his best offensive performance – a goal and two assists – coming in a preliminary round loss to Sweden. He assisted in victories over Denmark on New Year’s Eve and the United States in the semifinals. His most important point, however, came in the gold medal game, when he scored to give Canada a 2-0 lead in a game that Canada eventually won 3-2 in overtime.

BRAD MARCHAND

• 2007 World Cup – 6GP 2G 0A 2P (gold medal)
• 2008 World Cup – 7GP 4G 2A 6P (gold medal)

Marchand’s name is synonymous with IIHF World Junior Championship success, as he won back-to-back gold medals. He was a feisty winger who played bigger than his size and loved to play physical for Team Canada and the Boston Bruins. Marchand scored twice in 2007, including the gold medal game, and added six points in seven games the following year.

COREY PERRY 2005 WJC – 6GP 2G 5A 7P (gold medal)

Perry was assigned to the shutdown line alongside Patrice Bergeron and Sidney Crosby. He had at least one point in five of six games, including a two-goal performance in an 8-1 victory over Finland. Perry joins Team Canada alumnus Scott Niedermayer as the only players to be inducted into the IIHF Triple Gold Club (Olympic gold, IIHF World Championship gold, Stanley Cup), as well as win World Juniors gold and the Memorial Cup (with London in 2005).

ALEX PIETRANGELO

• 2009 World Cup – 6GP 1G 2A 3P (gold medal)
• WJC 2010 – 6GP 3G 9A 12P (silver medal/best defenseman/all-star team)

Pietrangelo shone brightly in Ottawa at the 2009 World Juniors, but it wasn’t until the 2010 tournament that he really made an impression. The King City, Ont., native dominated from the blue line, tying Bryan McCabe’s Canadian record for points by a defenceman in a single season (12). Pietrangelo had at least one point in all six games, earning him Top Defenceman honors and a spot on the media all-star team.

CAREY PRICE 2007 WJC – 6GP 6-0-0 1.14GAA.961SV% 2SO (gold medal/MVP/Best Goaltender/All-Star Team)

Price, the last goaltender to play every second of every game for Team Canada at the World Juniors, led the Canadians to their third consecutive gold medal in 2007; the 2015 Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy winner opened the tournament with a shutout and never looked back, leading the WJC in goals-against average, save percentage, and shutouts, and defeating the United States in a semifinal shootout thriller.

STEVEN STAMKOS 2008 WJC – 7GP 1G 5A 6P (gold medal)

After finishing off the podium at the summer U18 tournament and the U18 worlds, the future first-overall pick finally won a medal with Team Canada in his third attempt. The 17-year-old had three assists in the tournament opener against the host Czechs, and added a goal and two assists the rest of the way to finish second in team scoring as the Canadians won their fourth gold medal in a row with an overtime win over Sweden.

• JOHN TAVARES 2008 WJC – 7GP 4G 1A 6P (gold medal)
• WJC 2009 – 6GP 8G 7A 15P (gold medal/MVP/Best Forward/All-Star Team)

Tavares scored four goals in seven games as a 17-year-old to help Canada win gold at the 2008 World Juniors, but that paled in comparison to his 2009 performance as the Canadians won their fifth consecutive game in Ottawa. After a 15-point performance, he was named MVP and Best Forward, was named to the media all-star team, and is tied for the second-most goals in Canadian WJC history with Jeff Carter and Eric Lindros (12).

JOE THORNTON 1997 WJC – 7GP 2G 2A 4P (gold medal)

Thornton, then 17, was the youngest member of Canada’s National Junior Team in 1997. Five months before going first overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, he had a pair of goals and an assist as Canada went undefeated in Geneva, Switzerland, capped off with a 2-0 shutout of the United States in the gold medal game for Canada’s fifth consecutive World Juniors title. Mike Babcock, the World Cup bench boss, was the coach of that 1997 team.

• JONATHAN TOEWS 2006 WJC – 6GP 0G 2A 2P (gold medal)
• 2007 World Cup – 6GP 4G 3A 7P (gold medal)

The Winnipeg, Manitoba, native had two assists as part of the best defensive team in World Junior history in 2006, but he broke out the following year. Toews led Canada in scoring in Sweden, with seven points in six games en route to gold, and that doesn’t include his most important contribution, three goals in three attempts in a semifinal shootout win over the United States, which cemented his place in Canadian hockey history.

SHEA WEBER 2005 WJC – 6GP 0G 0A 0P (gold medal)

Weber did not record a point in six games as Canada ended its eight-year gold medal drought in Grand Forks – the only Canadian to play more than one game and not find the scoresheet – but that doesn’t mean he didn’t play a significant role; making his international debut, the blue-liner joined Dion Phaneuf on Canada’s shutdown defensive pairing, finishing tied for third in plus/minus at +10 – tops among all defencemen.