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EDMONTON — It can be found on the odd wind-worn lamppost on downtown streets of Edmonton — a loonie-sized sticker that is equal parts idolatrous and sacrilegious.

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It was not technically 2015 yet, but one of the memories that sticks out from the past 12 months happened at the Bell Centre in Montreal last New Year’s Eve. It was Canada versus the United States at the world junior hockey championship, and the game was, as expected, electric.

Connor McDavid, who hadn’t scored much yet, gathered the puck in the middle of the ice near the American blue line. Two defencemen retreated, a gap between them. And then McDavid was past them. Without much visible effort, McDavid had whooshed past the Americans, although the rush was foiled by a broken stick on the ice.