Golden return for Hunter Warriors coach claims gold medal in second coaching appearance with Team Canada at World Juniors

Moose Jaw Warriors coach Tim Hunter called it over a year ago. Shortly after Team Canada lost the gold medal final to the U.S. at the 2017 World Junior Championships, Hunter closed a media scrum with a bit of a prediction: he’d won bronze coaching at the World U-18 championships in 2015, silver in 2017. That meant, naturally, it would be gold in 2018.

Sure enough, there was Hunter on the bench as Team Canada – including Moose Jaw Warriors Brett Howden and Kale Clague – won gold on Jan. 6 with a heartstopping 3-1 win over Sweden.

“Exactly, I got my trifecta,” Hunter said with a smile. “Just wish it was three golds and not a bronze and a silver... No question, it all paid off with our plan and the coaching of Dom Ducharme and our management committee did a good job of organizing things and making our jobs real easy.” Canada took the usual route of steady improvement as the tournament progressed, with their only loss a 4-3 shootout defeat to the U.S in brutal outdoor-game conditions in Buffalo on Dec. 29. They finished the round robin with a 3-1 record before hammering Switzerland 8-2 in the quarter-finals and Slovakia 7-2 in the semis. “We did things in phases, there were four phases to get to the medal round,” Hunter explained. “We wanted to get to a certain level in our game at that point and it got to where we wanted it to get to and we were thrilled with that. All our players bought in with their roles and they all played well in their roles.”

Having had a chance to take part in two of the highest-level showcases of junior hockey on the planet has come with added benefits for Hunter and, as a result, the Moose Jaw Warriors: it’s almost impossible not to pick up a ton of tricks of the trade when working in that kind of situation.

“No question, as a coach you learn from the other coaches who are helping, the managers, the players,” Hunter said. “There’s an endless supply of information you can garner when you’re in that environment, it all helps you improve as a coach. Now we have to get back to work here and put it all to use the rest of the season.”