Riley Heidt would rather still be playing in the WHL playoffs with the Prince George Cougars, but he did find a way to extend his hockey season and earn a piece of precious hardware in the process.
Heidt and Team Canada are coming home from Switzerland with bronze medals after they defeated Slovakia 4-3 in overtime Sunday at the IFH U-18 world championship.
Macklin Celebrini scored his second goal of the game, 7:51 into overtime, to trigger the celebration for the Canadians.
Canada was trailing 3-2 in the third period until Matthew Wood scored with 70 seconds left to force OT on a play assisted by Celebrini, a 16-year-old from Vancouver who played this past season for the Chicago Steel of the USHL.
Colby Barlow also scored in bronze-medal game for Canada, which lost 7-2 to Sweden in Saturday’s semifinal round.
Heidt, 18, one of the top prospects available for the NHL draft in June, joined Team Canada in time for its third game of the tournament and the team won four of those five games. Heidt picked up two assists in those five games.
The United States won U-18 gold with a 3-2 overtime win Sunday over Sweden.
