Days after helping Canada win its eighth straight Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, Tyson Jost and Dante Fabbro are still soaking up the moment of their big win.
“It was pretty crazy. Being able to win gold with Canada, most people don’t get to do that their whole life,” said Fabbro, the Penticton Vees defenceman who helped Canada cruise past Sweden 7-3 to win the championship in Breclav, Czech Republic on Aug. 15. “Guys were definitely pretty happy after the game.”
“You could see the clock just counting down to zero. Everyone started getting butterflies. There was kind of an electric feeling on the bench,” said Jost.
After coming up empty in his first two stints with Canada (World Under-17 Championship and World Junior A Challenge), Jost experienced winning on the international stage.
“It was a huge honour obviously. Representing Team Canada again was an honour inside itself,” he said.
Canada’s victory was jolted by four first period goals. Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the first two goals. Canada’s final goal was scored by Okanagan Hockey Academy alum Beck Malenstyn, set up by Jost and Dubois. Jost said the championship was good, but he expected it to be closer as they played their best against Sweden.
“Everything we shot seemed to go in. They had a really good goalie (Filip Gustavsson) from what we knew,” said Jost. “Our goals were just get lots of pucks on net, use our speed. It was a pretty cool way to win.”
“I thought we played really well from start to finish,” said Fabbro. “There was a point we had taken a penalty and Sweden scored two quick ones in the third. We played a complete game.”
Jost said playing in the tournament was surreal to him. Part of it was playing with and against unbelievable players. When Canada faced the hosts, Jost remembers the crowd being “insane.”
“They were loud and chanting the whole game. It was almost like a soccer game,” said Jost.
Fabbro said to go to Europe and win was special.
“I found the team gelled pretty quickly together. That kind of showed through the tournament. Every game we got stronger,” he said. “I was excited to be a part of that.”
When it came to their roles, Jost was asked to produce and did so with three goals and four points in five games. Jost scored a hat-trick in a 9-2 shellacking of Switzerland.
“I think I delivered pretty good. I put up some numbers,” he said. “You are playing for Team Canada. You have one goal, one team. You are all trying to accomplish the same thing. Any role the coaches put you in you are looking forward to.
“I thought I had a really good tournament. Same with Fabbro,” he continued.
Fabbro was tasked with shutting down the opponents’ top lines. Fabbro was happy with his play and said he had a great partner in Calgary Hitmen D-man Jake Bean. The two quickly became friends and it resulted in strong chemistry on the ice.
“I thought we really showed that we belong there and that even though we are not playing in the CHL, that we do belong there, that we showcased our skill,” said Jost. “Proved to them that the BCHL isn’t just some knock off league -— that it is a really good league.”
Canada finished a perfect 5-0 in the tournament, outscoring its opposition 23-7.
Not long after getting back to Edmonton, Jost, considered a top prospect for the 2016 NHL Draft, announced on Monday afternoon via Twitter, his commitment to the University of North Dakota.
“Excited to announce I will play for @UNDmhockey in 16/17,” wrote Jost on his Twitter account, @josty_17. “Thank you to my family, @PentictonVees @OkanaganRockets & @POE_Hockey
#support.”