When Jansen Harkins steps onto the ice Friday for the start of Prince George Cougars training camp, he'll do so as an international gold medalist.
Harkins, a 17-year-old Cougars forward, helped Team Canada to gold at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, which wrapped up Saturday in Breclav, Czech Republic. In the championship game, Canada beat the host Czechs 6-2 and, in the process, claimed top spot for the seventh year in a row.
Canada went undefeated in five games and outscored its opponents 32-10. Harkins finished the eight-team event with two goals and six points.
Canada took control of the gold-medal game by outscoring the Czech Republic 4-0 in the first period. Goals came from Dylan Strome, Lawson Crouse, Mitchell Marner and Travis Konecny, on a power play. The Czechs got on the board early in the second period on a power-play marker by Radek Koblizek but Canada's Nicolas Roy answered back about six minutes later. Before the middle frame ended, Lucas Jasek got one more for the Czech Republic to bring the score to 5-2. Canada completed the scoring part way through the third period on a goal by Crouse.
In its other games, Canada rolled to 5-1 victories against Switzerland, Sweden and Slovakia. Then, in the semifinal round, Canada hammered the United States 11-5. The Czech Republic skated to wins against the United States (4-2), Finland (4-3) and Russia (11-5) and then edged Sweden 4-3 in the semifinals.
The U.S. defeated Sweden 5-4 in overtime in the bronze-medal game.
Harkins was selected for Team Canada after he attended a camp in Calgary in early August. The gold medal tops the silver he won as captain of Team Pacific at the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
Harkins was the first member of the Cougars to play for Team Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial since Brett Connolly in 2009. That year, Canada downed Russia 9-2 in the final.
Harkins, from North Vancouver, was chosen second overall by the Cougars in the 2012 Western Hockey League bantam draft. As a rookie last season, he had 10 goals and 34 points in 67 games. He is eligible for the 2015 NHL draft and has already been identified by NHL Central Scouting as a prospect.
