U18 gold medal win over USA a ‘dream come true’ for Team Canada defender

By Maria Michaux

There was no better way for Alex Therien to kick off her career wearing the maple leaf than by beating USA for the gold medal in the final game of the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship on Jan. 12 in Vantaa, Finland.

“It was just a dream come true and something we have all been dreaming about for so long,” reflects the 17-year-old Nepean Wildcats defender. “To see it become a reality was amazing.”

Therien’s fantasy began formulating at an early age while watching her brother’s hockey games and hearing stories of her grandpa playing in the Ontario Hockey League. However, the idea of pursuing hockey herself wasn’t on her radar until she was 10. After a couple of years of house league hockey, playing soccer, and gymnastics, she selected hockey as her sport of choice.

“It came to a point where I had to decide what sport I wanted to play. I chose hockey, started competitively playing at 12, and have loved it ever since,” recounts Therien, a past Ottawa Girls’ Hockey Association player who first entered the Ontario Women’s U22 Elite Hockey League with Ottawa Jr. 67’s ‘AA’ before joining Nepean last season.

Therien underlines that her club played a crucial role in preparing her for the Team Canada tryouts, expressing how the team’s positivity and coaches gave her faith in her ability to succeed in high-calibre hockey.

“They were right by my side, sending me text messages throughout the whole tournament and that’s what really gave me the confidence to go out there and do my best,” highlights Therien, who will remain a Wildcat when she joins the University of New Hampshire of the NCAA next season, with an eye on a future career in the PWHL and with the Canadian senior women.

Therien earned her spot on Team Canada after impressing the scouts at November’s U18 national championships in Quispamsis, NB, where she assisted on the tournament-winning goal by Dorothy Copetti in Ontario-Red’s 1-0 gold medal game victory over Quebec.

The moment Therien’s parents shared the news that she’d been chosen for the national U18 team was overwhelming.

“I barely remember what they said after I made the team. I broke down crying and was in so much shock,” recalls the Peak Centre Academy student. “It’s such an honour every game to put on that jersey and know that you are representing your country.”

Also earning a spot on Team Canada was fellow Ontario-Red champion defender Kate Viel, who plays for the third-place Ottawa Senators in the OWHL. Viel scored a goal and four assists and earned a +8 rating in her six games at the U18 worlds.

Therien was +6 at the worlds while contributing three assists and scoring Canada’s second goal of a 5-0 preliminary-round win over Czechia.

“Before the game, I told my family, ‘You know what? I’m going to get a goal today,’ and it happened,” smiles Therien. “We worked as a team and got it to the net, and I was just there to put it in. It was great.”

Canada also beat Slovakia 6-2 and Switzerland 5-1 to top its group, and then trounced Japan 17-0 in the quarterfinals. Canada later avenged its defeat in last year’s U18 semifinals by posting a 4-2 victory in a rematch with Czechia.

That setup a showdown with USA in the final – the 14th time the women’s hockey powers met in the U18 women’s world championship game, USA having previously won seven to Canada’s six.

Therien, Viel and the Canadian defence held USA to just 14 shots overall in the tight-checking affair. Canada scored around the halfway mark and then got some breathing room as Therien setup Copetti for a goal with 10:47 left in the third period to replicate their magic from the nationals.

But the Canadians didn’t get to fully exhale until they got an empty-netter in the final two minutes to go ahead 3-0.

“After she scored, it just hit us, like, ‘OK, this is it,’ and I think we all started crying on the bench,” Therien signals. “It was the most memorable experience anyone could ask for.”

The local champs will soon be reuniting but on opposite sides of the puck when Therien’s Lady Sens meet Viel’s Wildcats on Jan. 16 at the Nepean Sportsplex. Each team will then having a dozen games left on their OWHL regular season schedules.