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“Hey @28mwheeler _ I owe you dinner for that OT gold-medal-winning goal! Let me know when we can make it happen in #Kingston or #Toronto #GWG.”

Just dinner? Wheeler deserves an all-out feast, maybe even a banquet, given the one-of-kind goal she scored to bring another world hockey championship to Canada. She also was Canada’s leading point scorer with one goal and five assists in five round-robin/playoff games (4-1).

And remember, Wheeler’s on-ice numbers speak volumes given her off-ice numbers. She stands only 5-foot-4 (tied for smallest on the team) and at 16 (the youngest) gave away two years of experience to many of her peers. She also scored the goal while dealing with a groin injury that will keep her sidelined for three weeks from Provincial Women’s Hockey League action.

Photo by Dave Holland / Hockey Canada

When regulation time in the gold-medal game ended at 2-2, four-on-four overtime was required. Forty-five seconds into sudden death, American Abbey Murphy took a holding penalty and gave Canada a power-play, which created plenty of ice for the skilful Wheeler.

“I just came off the bench, and with a four-on-three power play, I had a lot of space,” Wheeler told the IIHF’s Andrew Podnieks. “We’ve been doing well on our net drives, so I just went wide and cut in and had a bad-angle shot. The rebound popped out, and I buried it.

“I think because it’s a gold-medal game you have to do whatever you have to do to get a goal. I knew that even if I didn’t score, going to the net would create a good scoring opportunity. It did.”