University of Minnesota Athletics
Schroeder Helps U.S. Juniors Capture Gold
1/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Jordan Schroeder became the first University of Minnesota player to win a gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships as the United States won a dramatic 6-5 overtime thriller over Canada on Tuesday in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Schroeder, a Prior Lake, Minn. native, tallied the United States' second goal during the victory, which came on John Carlson's goal 4:21 into sudden death overtime. Tied 3-3 entering the third period, the United States scored twice in the third period before Canada rallied with two goals in the final four minutes of regulation to force overtime. It was the second time Canada had come back from a late two-goal deficit against the United States in six days after the same happened on Dec. 31 in a 5-4 Canada shootout victory.
"We had a lot of different guys step up and that's what it takes to win," Schroeder told the NHL Network. "We're a character team and every single guy played a part in this. We're a really close-knit group and I couldn't be happier right now."
In addition to Schroeder, the United States' head coach Dean Blais and assistant coach Tom Ward played collegiate hockey for the Gophers. Minnesota has had a player on the United States squad in 32 of the 34 World Junior tournaments, but did not have a member of the Americans' only previous gold medal team in 2004 in Finland. Schroeder joins the Gopher players who were members of the 1960 and 1980 Olympic hockey teams as the only University of Minnesota players to win a gold medal in international competition.
The United States placed fifth in last year's World Junior Championships and had only played in the gold medal game two previous times. Current Gopher Mike Carman was part of a bronze medal team at the 2007 tournament in Sweden.
Schroeder gave the United States a 2-1 lead in the first period of Tuesday's gold medal game with a glove-side wrister from the right faceoff dot. He finished the tournament with three goals and five assists for eight points in seven games played. Having played in three World Junior tournaments, Schroeder concluded his career as the United States' all-time leader with 27 points and 20 assists.
Schroeder will return to Minnesota on Wednesday and plans to be in the lineup Friday when the Gophers host Harvard at 7 p.m. at Mariucci Arena.
