OLDS — Defenceman Ronan Seeley of Olds played a key role as Team Canada recently edged Finland 3-2 to win the gold medal during the World Junior Hockey Championship in Edmonton.
Seeley was on the ice during the final on Saturday, Aug. 20 and patrolled the left point much of the time as again and again, Team Canada hemmed Team Finland in its own end and poured on the pressure.
Seeley didn’t score any goals during the tournament, but played seven games and did pick up four assists, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and Quant Hockey websites.
Also according to those sites, Seeley tied with fellow D-man Jack Thompson for a plus/minus rating of 10, one of the highest on the team.
Only Olen Zellweger, another defenceman, and forward Mason McTavish, the team’s captain, had higher plus/minus ratings of 14 and 13 respectively.
Seeley was in the sin bin for a total of 25 penalty minutes.
The tournament was postponed last December due to COVID-19 issues. It was rescheduled to this summer and began Tuesday, Aug. 9.
Now, Team Canada only has a few months before it defends its gold medal during the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship, which will run from Monday, Dec. 26 to Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023 in Halifax and Moncton.
However, Seeley’s future lies elsewhere.
He has aged out of junior hockey as a 20-year-old. Normally, the World Juniors are only for players under the age of 20. But due to the COVID postponement, the IHHF made an exception this year for junior players born in 2002.
Seeley, who stands 1.85-metres tall (six feet, one inch) and weighs 87.1 kilograms (192 pounds), signed a three-year entry-level contract last year with the Carolina Hurricanes after being picked by them in the seventh round of the 2020 NHL entry draft.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Jack Thompson and Olen Zellweger's names.
