RED DEER, Alta. – For the second time, Quebec has won men’s hockey gold at the Canada Winter Games, defeating Ontario 4-3 in overtime in Friday’s gold medal game at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer.
It marks the 10th men’s hockey medal ever for Quebec at the Canada Winter Games, which also won gold in 1987. It was silver medallist three times (1999, 2003, 2011) and won bronze five times (1971, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1995). Ontario won its ninth medal, including five gold (1971, 1983, 1991, 2007, 2015), two silver (1987, 2019) and two bronze (1967, 2003).
Zachary L’Heureux (Mercier, Que./Châteauguay, LHMAAAQ) was the overtime hero, jamming in his team-leading 10th goal midway through the extra period. William Blackburn posted a 38-save performance, picking up his fifth win of the tournament.
Quebec jumped out to 2-0 lead in the first period, as Guillaume Richard (Cap-Santé, Que./Séminaire St-François, LHMAAAQ) scored on the power play and Maxime Pellerin (Victoriaville, Que./Trois-Rivières, LHMAAAQ) added a goal with just over two minutes to play in the first.
Ontario took a 3-2 lead after Connor Punnett (Powassan, Ont./North Central, OMHA), Roman Schmidt (Toronto/Don Mills, GTHL) and Brennan Othmann (Pickering, Ont./Don Mills, GTHL) scored three unanswered goals in the second period. Joshua Roy (St-Georges, Que./Lévis, LHMAAAQ) tied the game with less than three minutes remaining in the third period, sending the game to overtime.
Alberta downs Saskatchewan 12-0 to take bronze
Earlier in the day, Alberta rebounded after a tough 8-4 loss to Ontario in the semifinals to win the bronze medal in convincing fashion, defeating Saskatchewan 12-0.
Alberta suffered a 4-3 overtime loss at the hands of Saskatchewan in the preliminary round, a game that saw Saskatchewan erase two different one-goal deficits and score just under two minutes into overtime.
Matt Savoie (St. Albert, Alta./Northern Alberta, CSSHL) netted a natural hat-trick and added two assists, while Dylan Guenther (Edmonton/Northern Alberta, CSSHL) scored twice and added three helpers. In total, eight different players scored goals and 15 registered at least one point.
Alberta goaltender Drew Sim (Tees, Alta./Delta Hockey Academy, CSSHL) was busy in net, posting a 36-save shutout to give Alberta its 11th men’s hockey medal at the Canada Winter Games.
For more information on men’s hockey at the 2019 Canada Winter games, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media at https://twitter.com/canadagames by using the official hashtag #CGHockey.
