Barron earns silver at world juniors
Halifax Mooseheads star played key role for Canada
The past month and a half was both a blur and a slow grind for Justin Barron.
The Halifax Mooseheads captain left Nova Scotia for Alberta in mid-november to try out for the Canadian world junior team and is now on his way back with a silver medal. In between, the 19-year-old defenceman endured a painstaking 14-day quarantine in a Red Deer hotel and emerged as one of Team Canada's most reliable players.
“The last 50 days have been a roller coaster and I couldn't be more proud to be Canadian and more proud to be a part of this team,'' Barron said to TSN in a post-game interview on Tuesday. “We went through a lot of ups and downs and I love everyone in that dressing room.''
Canada dominated in the preliminary and playoff round but met its match in the final. The United States won the game 2-0 to take the gold medal.
Barron logged 18 shifts and was not on the ice for any goals but didn't buy the theory Canada's easy path to the final worked against them against the Americans.
“I don't think so,'' he told TSN. “We played some good teams in the tournament and
we faced adversity in different ways. They're a good hockey team, they were able to capitalize early on their scoring chances and we responded but it wasn't enough and that's the way it goes sometimes.''
Barron was paired with Montreal Canadiens firstround pick Kaiden Guhle right from the very beginning and they earned universal praise as a steady, workhorse duo throughout the tournament. Barron finished with two assists and was plus-5.
“I think we've got to give (the United States) credit, they're a good team and they've got a lot of skill,'' Barron said to TSN. “They were able to get two (goals) early and that ended up working out for them. I thought we had a pretty good pushback and we gave it all we had.''
Barron will now return to Halifax for another quarantine and will rejoin the Mooseheads for the second half of the QMJHL season. He was only able to play in eight games in the first half because he was rehabilitating from a minor shoulder procedure.
The Halifax native was the only Nova Scotian on the Team Canada roster but there were three other Atlantic Canadians - Jason Spence (P.E.I.), Dawson Mercer (Newfoundland) and Alex Newhook (Newfoundland).