Cameron Schmidt’s golden goal Saturday in Charlottetown, P.E.I. was a thing of beauty.
The 16-year-old Prince George minor hockey product took off with the puck on a breakaway and scored on a backhand deke 9:18 into overtime to give Canada White a 2-1 win over the United States in Saturday’s gold-medal game at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
“That’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid,” said Schmidt. “Growing up watching this on TV, this is a dream come true, really.”
The Vancouver Giants forward’s fifth goal of the tournament ended a long drought. A Canadian team had not won the title since 2015.
Joby Baumuller gave Canada White an early lead 1:38 into the game and Charlie Tretheway tied it for the Americans on a power play midway through the third period.
“We just tried to stay positive, bring that energy every shift, and we did that,” said Schmidt, in a postgame interview posted by Hockey Canada.
“Obviously, with it being in Canada we had the crowd on our side the whole way through. It was a big confidence boost going into that (overtime) period – a big shoutout to them.”
Canada White lost two of its first three games in the six-team tournament but, led by Schmidt, they turned it on when it mattered most. He scored two goals to help White beat Canada Red 3-2 in the quarterfinals on Thursday and had another two-goal game Friday in a 6-1 semifinal win over Sweden.
Sweden won the bronze medal game with a 6-3 win over Czechia.
Canada Red, which included Spokane Chiefs forward Chase Harrington of Prince George, finished fifth.
Schmidt and the Giants are in Prince George to play the Cougars tonight (7 p.m.) and Wednesday at CN Centre.
