What a ride.

The World Championships came and went in a flash and in case you don’t know how it ended – spoiler alert – we won!!

After taking care of Sweden in the Quarterfinal, we eked out a win over the United States, setting up a gold medal game against Finland, the team that beat us 4-0 in our final round robin game.

We knew Finland was going to sit back and trap the whole game, so we prepared for that, had a good plan and once we got the lead, I was pretty confident we were going to pull it out. And that’s exactly what we did!

Talk about stress. I wasn’t in the line-up and I think it’s more stressful watching a game than playing in one because up top you see everything developing, but if something bad is happening, knowing that you can’t get out and help is tough. Especially when they’re in your zone and cycling, you’re sitting there losing hair like don’t put the puck in the net, don’t put the puck in the net.

We played a solid team game and they didn’t put the puck in the net. Midway through the 3rd period I made a Superman costume change (minus the phone booth) and got back into my gear; before I knew it we had clinched the win and were being handed gold medals!

The on-ice celebration was something else. We were all so happy and had our parents and friends and family there with us, it was truly a moment I’ll cherish forever. My smile is as big as ever, as you can see in the photos!

This experience really lit a fire under me. No one ever wants to sit out, I wanted to be playing; to be the odd man out fired me up to come back and show them that maybe I should have been in the line-up. Either way, we won gold and that’s all we’ll remember, but I was reminded that I can’t take playing time for granted. I can’t come in for camp next year thinking I’ll play a ton because you never know. Sitting in the stands motivated me to become a better player so that whatever team I’m playing for, I’m on the ice, not in the stands.

Now it’s time to relax a bit. I’m back home in Prescott, Ontario, with my immediate future involving a lot of golfing, you know, trying to keep my drives straight and put it in the fairway. I’ll come back to Vancouver to see the trainers and staff sometime and visit my cottage a bit, other than that I’m just enjoying being home for the first time since last summer. I’m also going to Nashville for Bartkowski’s bachelor party this summer, but I will not be blogging about those shenanigans!

Thank you to all the fans out there for cheering me on in Vancouver this season and with Team Canada during Worlds. Your support means a lot to me.

And thanks for reading my blog! This writing thing is easier than I thought – just kidding!

Ben