Skip to content

More juniors heartbreak for Strome: 'They deserve to win'

Yelena Rusko / TASS / Getty

Dylan Strome's time with the Canadian junior squad officially came to an end Thursday night, and the 19-year-old leaves with what he didn't want: a silver medal.

Canada's leading scorer heading into Thursday's final was held scoreless by the Americans in the gold-medal game, a 5-4 U.S. decision in a shootout. Instead of lamenting the fact a skills competition decided the winner, Strome gave the U.S. the respect it deserves after an impressive comeback.

"(Tyler Parsons) stops five guys in a row in a shootout, they deserve to win," Strome said, according to TSN's Mark Masters.

Tears flowed freely in Canada's dressing room, Strome admitted, but Canada's captain is proud of what his team accomplished.

He finished his world juniors career with seven goals and nine assists in 12 games. While gold was elusive, he's leaving with hardware this year, and that means something after Canada's sixth-place showing in 2016.

Mathew Barzal's world juniors career is over, too. And he took the loss extremely hard.

"I gave it everything I had," he said. "I don't think I've ever wanted to win something so bad and played so hard."

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox