Jason La Rose
With the IIHF World Junior Championship back in British Columbia for the first time in 13 years and B.C. Hockey celebrating its 100th anniversary, we asked the question … what are the best performances by B.C. natives in World Juniors history?
NO. 9 – KYLE TURRIS Hometown: New Westminster, B.C. Minor Hockey Association: North Shore Winter Club
2008 IIHF World Junior Championship Statistics: 7GP 4G 4A 8P Result: gold medal
Canada brought an 18-game winning streak to Pardubice and Liberec for the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship, having run undefeated through the 2005, 2006 and 2007 tournaments, although that streak ended at 20 after a prelim loss to Sweden.
The highest-drafted NHL pick on the roster at the time (3rd to Phoenix in 2007), Turris put up eight points in seven games to lead a talented Canadian contingent that included names like Marchand, Giroux, Stamkos, Tavares, Doughty and Subban.
He scored both goals in a win over Slovakia, added two more to beat Denmark in the preliminary-round finale and finished with at least a point in each of the last five games, including an assist in the final to help Canada to a fourth-consecutive World Juniors gold medal.
What are your memories of the 2008 World Juniors? “It was unbelievable, and an experience I’ll never forget. We had a really good team, just a great group of guys. It was a great group to go overseas with, spend Christmas together and play the highest level of hockey for our age group. Every kid in Canada grows up watching the World Juniors at Christmas, it’s an annual ritual. So to be chosen to play for that team was extremely special.”
Was there a lot of support for Canada in the Czech Republic? “We had a ton of support over there. It was really neat seeing all the Canadian jerseys and flags, and hearing people saying that they were on their honeymoon and took the trip to see the World Juniors, or people who travel to watch the World Juniors to support Canada every year. It shows how big it is and how meaningful it is to be a part of something like that. Growing up and watching it every year as a kid, being a part of it and hearing all those stories from people just added to the meaning of it for me.”
What do you remember about Matt Halischuk’s OT winner in the gold medal game? “I was on the bench, and I can remember Matthias brought the puck out of the corner and took it to the net, and Halischuk found a rebound that squirted out and [he] put it in. We were all holding our breath, hoping it would go in because we were running out of gas and getting tired. And then it was over, and everyone was jumping the boards and we were all dogpiling and celebrating. One thing I really remember is getting to celebrate with this huge Canadian flag that was brought onto the ice, which was really cool.”