A hat trick from Drake Batherson helped lift Canada over the Czech Republic and into the gold medal game against Sweden at the .
Batherson (New Minas, N.S./Cape Breton, QMJHL) had four points in the 7-2 semi-final win and is now tied for the goal scoring leader of the tournament with six goals in seven games.
馃帺馃帺馃帺. Unbelievable. Atta boy, .
鈥� Hockey Nova Scotia (@HockeyNS)
鈥淣ot getting the invite this summer, I think I saw a few guys last year who had a good start; got an invite to came and ended up making the team so maybe I thought I could be like that and it鈥檚 worked out. I just worked on my game all summer, just progressing as a player and getting better every day,鈥� said Batherson about his impact in his first international experience representing Canada.
Canadian forward speaks after scoring a hat trick in the 7-2 semi-final win against the Czechs at .
鈥� IIHF (@IIHFHockey)
Canada, which includes B.C. players Dillon Dub茅 (Cochrane, Alta/Kelowna Rockets, WHL), Cal Foote (Kelowna/Kelowna Rockets, WHL) and former Penticton Vees player Dante Fabbro (Coquitlam/Boston University, HE), heads to the gold medal game for the second straight year. They are one win away from extending their world juniors record to 17 gold medals in 24 tournaments.
Sweden is seeking their 16th gold medal, but first they will have to figure out how to solve Canada鈥檚 power play, the best in the tournament with a 56.5 per cent effectiveness rate. Canada has out scored opponents 36-10.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a different game, it鈥檚 a tournament and it鈥檚 a different group. I think our guys have learned a lot this year. We went through a lot in the first round and tonight with the way we played the game, trailing 1-0 early, guys didn鈥檛 panic and we established our game. All those things we need to take and play our best game (Friday). They (Sweden) have a lot of skill and they鈥檙e playing well, there鈥檚 a reason why they鈥檙e in the final. It will be a great game,鈥� said Canadian head coach Dom Ducharme.
Back to the gold medal game they go! We鈥檒l see you tomorrow at 8 !! 馃嚚馃嚘
鈥� WJC 2018 in Buffalo (@WJCinBUF)
Friday marks 10 years to the day that Matt Halischuk scored in overtime to give Canada a 3-2 win over Sweden and their fourth consecutive gold.
In the other semi-final, the host U.S. were downed by Sweden 4-2. Sweden opened scoring in that game with 6:30 remaining in the first period. They then scored three goals in a two-minute span near the midway mark of the middle frame to give them a 4-0 lead.
鈥淭his was a tough night for us but I thought we fought to the very end,鈥� said Bob Motzko, head coach of the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team. 鈥淔ortunately, this tournament isn鈥檛 over. There鈥檚 still a medal at stake and I know our guys are going to be ready to make our country proud.鈥�
The gold medal game takes place at 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 5. The U.S. will face the Czech Republic in the bronze medal final at 1 p.m.
As voted by Canada鈥檚 coaching staff, the best three players for 馃嚚馃嚘 at are Drake Batherson, Cale Makar and Conor Timmins.
鈥� #WorldJuniors (@HC_WJC)
