Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/106685
RUN With championships at the USHL, NCAA and IIHF levels, 5-foot-5 Johnny Gaudreau is towering over the hockey community. hockey player achieve? One thing that had eluded him was a spot on the U.S. National Junior Team as he was cut just before the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship. He would be home for the holidays last winter and watched his fellow countrymen finish out of medal contention. After his brilliant freshman campaign that was filled with honors and accolades, he went to the U.S. evaluation camp this past summer wanting to show decision makers that he deserved a spot on the U.S. National Junior Team that would head to Ufa, Russia for the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship. He performed well at the camp and was dominate early in his sophomore season at Boston College with 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in 14 games. Gaudreau wouldn't be home for the holidays this year as he did make the U.S. team. He started out the tournament "slow" by his standards and failed to score a goal through the first three games despite his stellar play that created several quality chances. He broke out of his mini scoring slump in typical Gaudreau fashion by scoring two goals in the 9-3 win over Slovakia and then recording a hat trick in the 7-0 victory against the Czech Republic to put the U.S. in the semifinals. The high-scoring forward continued his assault on international goaltenders when he added two big goals in the 5-1 win over Canada to earn a spot in the gold-medal game. It was an unusual scene to see Gaudreau held off the score sheet but his impact was felt for the U.S. team, which had 17 USHL alumni, as they won the gold medal with a 3-1 win over Sweden. He still finished the tournament as the leading goal scorer and tied for the U.S. team scoring lead with nine points (7 goals, 2 assists). A gold medal is now added to the already full trophy case for Gaudreau, which earned him the unlikely "hat trick" of being the first player ever to win a USHL Clark Cup, NCAA Championship, and gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship. Even more impressive was those accomplishments came over the short span of just 20 months. It was just 21 months earlier that the under-sized kid from New Jersey showed up in Dubuque hoping just to play in the USHL, but now "Johnny Hockey" is gaining legendary status and enjoying the things of which hockey dreams are made. N Brian Werger is the director of Communications & Public Relations for the United States Hockey League. USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM FEBRUARY. 2013 23