Worthington, Stewart medal at Junior A Challenge

Brandon’s Colten Worthington and Ethan Stewart repped the Maple Leaf well.

The pair of hometown products are coming off a podium finish in Trois-Rivières, Que., after helping Canada West to its first silver medal in the World Junior A Challenge since 2012 — when they fell in the final to the United States in Yarmouth, N.S., with a 6-3 loss.

History was much of the same this time around. Worthington, Stewart, and company ran into their familiar rivals south of the border in the gold-medal game and dropped a 5–1 decision, and while the result may have stung, earning silver at a tournament featuring some of the top talent in Junior A is nothing to sneeze at either.

“It was pretty exciting,” said Stewart, who tallied one goal and four points through five games with Canada West. “Getting a chance to win a gold medal was super cool for sure, and getting that silver medal is pretty awesome too.

“It was just fun to play that type of competition and seeing the different leagues and guys from the United States and Sweden play.”

Canada West, a roster made up of players across the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Superior International leagues, has squared off annually against Canada East and squads from the United States and Sweden since 2006, making the tournament a competitive proving ground for players hoping to take the next step in their hockey careers.

For Virden Oil Capitals forward Worthington, it was also a rare opportunity to play with a bunch of teammates that would typically be on the other side of the ice.

“It was just a really cool experience to play with new guys and learn different systems and just like get to know certain people off the ice,” Worthington said. “It was just kind of really cool to see us all come together really quick.”

Along with Dauphin Kings forward Stewart, who he got to play with during his years with the Brandon Wheat Kings U18 AAA club, Worthington also got a chance to play alongside Brody Green and Zhenya Miles of the Steinbach Pistons, but the lines also flip-flopped almost every game since finding the sweet spot for chemistry is so challenging in a short tournament like this one.

Canada West’s resiliency as a team was tested early into the tournament with a disappointing effort against Sweden in the opening game when they suffered a 6-2 loss. Their losing ways continued the following game with a 4-3 shootout loss to Canada East, before being blanked by the United States 4-0.

In just a flash, the round-robin was over, and Canada West was still winless. Luckily for them, they still had a chance to execute on the games that truly count.

In an all-Canadian semifinal, Canada West was able to pull a 2-0 upset over Canada East, who went undefeated in the round-robin, yet still would only get a chance to play for a bronze medal. The final against the U.S. was Canada West’s chance to reclaim first on the podium after their gold medal win against Canada East in 2023, but their opponent proved to be too much to handle.

“The U.S. just kind of outplayed us,” said Stewart. “It was pretty intense and was probably our closest game that we had with the U.S., even though the score didn’t really show it, but they were just a super skilled team.”

Worthington added, “I think it kind of shocked me a bit just because they were all really skilled guys, but they also played super aggressive. If you had the puck, you were most likely going to get hit. Everyone out there had skill, but nobody was also scared of getting hit. It was definitely a good experience.”

And a learning lesson Stewart and Worthington can take back with them to their respective MJHL teams, which both sit at the top of the West Division, with Virden trailing Dauphin by four points with two games in hand.

Dauphin closes out its December schedule with a home tilt Saturday evening against the Waywayseecappo Wolverines at Credit Union Place, while Virden begins a back-to-back set on the road tonight against the struggling Swan Valley Stampeders.

“I’m just really happy and excited to get back to Virden and bring all the experience over here,” Worthington said. “It’s a huge next two games because of the break coming up, so I think just having two more wins and four more points will help a lot, especially at the midway point. I think we’ll all be happier during Christmas if we get these two more games.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com