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Sean Wu said a little prayer.

The goaltender for Team China at the IIHF under-20 Division III world championship glanced at the score clock. His team, up 5-1 on Australia in the gold-medal game in Iceland, was mere moments from victory. Forty seconds away, in fact. A lifelong dream was about to be realized for Wu, a goaltender who calls both Canada and China home, depending on the time of year.

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As the ensuing wild celebration inched closer, his thoughts peacefully turned to his childhood friend and teammate, Eddie Yan.

“There was a whistle and I honestly just prayed that he would be on for the final buzzer,” Wu said of the momentous moment earlier this month. “A bit of me knew he would be the first one to come over and hug me. It came true. He was the closest one to me and when the buzzer sounded, he just threw everything and just came over and gave me a big hug.”

Added Yan, who had the puck on his stick as the horn sounded: “We just kind of looked at each other. And then I hugged him.”