The U20 World Junior Championship (WJC) is an exciting and highly anticipated hockey tournament held during the holiday season. For many households, it’s a cherished tradition to gather with loved ones, don their country’s colours, and watch the world’s best 20 and under hockey players compete for their country in hopes of winning a gold medal.
In my experience as an Edmonton Oilers supporter with a father-in-law who’s a Calgary Flames fan, the World Juniors is the one time we can set aside the Battle of Alberta rivalry and cheer for the same team. I’d imagine it’s a similar story for many households in Alberta—and across Canada, for that matter. This year, the World Juniors return to Ottawa, ON, for the first time since 2009.
That said, several current Oilers players have competed in the U20 WJC and won medals, including Adam Henrique, who won a silver in 2010, Mattias Ekholm, who took home a bronze in 2010, Vasily Podkolzin, who won a bronze in 2019 and a silver in 2020, and Viktor Arvidsson, who won a silver medal in 2013. Additionally, the Oilers currently have five players who were fortunate enough to win WJC gold. Below, we take a look at their World Junior Championship journey.

Corey Perry Won Gold at the 2005 World Juniors

With each passing year, the 2005 Team Canada solidifies its status as one of the greatest World Junior squads ever, boasting some of the best players to ever play the game, including Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and recent Hall of Fame inductee Shea Weber, just to name a few.
The 2005 World Juniors were held in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Team Canada was stacked with talent, courtesy of the NHL lockout that allowed some of the league’s top players to join the roster. Canada steamrolled the competition, outscoring their opponents 41-7 over six games, with their top scorers being Bergeron (13 points), Getzlaf (12 points), Jeff Carter (10 points), and Crosby (nine points).
That said, current Oiler, Perry, played a key role. He was added to the roster after Jeremy Colliton went down with an injury and played on the first line with Bergeron and Crosby. Perry finished the tournament with two goals and five assists in six games, helping Canada win the gold medal. The now-grizzled Oiler vet had this to say about his WJC experience:
“You dream of playing for Canada, and you remember every single guy from that team. “You’re going to cherish those memories forever.”
Additionally, with Perry’s Team Canada clinching gold at the 2005 WJC, they ended an eight-year championship drought.

Evander Kane Won Gold at the 2009 World Juniors

Oilers forward Evander Kane was a key member of Team Canada, which won the gold medal at the 2009 World Juniors held in Ottawa. At the time, the tournament set a record for total attendance at the WJC, with 453,282 spectators attending games, a record that was later surpassed in Edmonton and Calgary in 2012.
Team Canada featured prominent players like Jamie Benn, John Tavares, Jordan Eberle, Alex Pietrangelo, and Kane, of course, who was initially cut from the roster but was asked to return after Dana Tyrell injured his knee in an exhibition game.
Canada won all of their preliminary games, outscoring the opposition 35-6 over four games, including a 15-0 shellacking of Kazakhstan. In the finals, Team Canada defeated a tough Team Sweden group, which featured Jacob Markstrom, who took home top goaltender honours, Erik Karlsson, the top D-man of the tourney, and Victor Hedman, 5-1, to capture the gold medal.
In addition, Kane recorded six points in six games, scoring two goals in the preliminary round against Germany and Kazakhstan. In one of the best games in World Junior history against Russia, where Eberle tied the game with five seconds left for an eventual 6-5 shootout win, Kane tallied two assists in the epic game.

Connor McDavid Won Gold at the 2015 World Juniors

Long before becoming the fourth-fastest player to reach 1,000 points in the NHL, Connor McDavid was no stranger to the spotlight, representing Team Canada multiple times before being chosen first overall in the 2015 NHL Draft. At the 2013 U18 World Championships, he set a Canadian record with an incredible 22 points (eight goals and 14 assists).
The following year, at just 16 years old, he earned a spot on Team Canada for the U20 World Juniors and became the sixth-youngest player in history to represent Canada at the tournament, placing him in elite company alongside Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros, Jason Spezza, Jay Bouwmeester, and Sidney Crosby, and he finished the tournament with one goal and three assists in a third-place finish.
Yet, the future Oiler made an even bigger splash a year later, earning another shot with Team Canada at the 2015 World Juniors, hosted on home ice with games split between Toronto and Montreal. Skating alongside Nic Petan and former Edmonton Oil King Curtis Lazar, he gave the hockey world a preview of his next-level speed and elite skill.
In a game against Denmark in the preliminary round, he intercepted the puck at center ice, turned on the jets, and blew past two defenders to score a highlight-reel breakaway goal. Then, in the championship game against Russia, McDavid split the defence for another breakaway, slipping the puck five-hole past the goaltender to help Team Canada win 5-4.
All in all, McDavid tied for third in points at the 2015 World Juniors, led all players with eight assists and played a key role in helping Team Canada win the gold medal. In addition, the future Oilers captain also earned a spot on the tournament’s All-Star Team.

Darnell Nurse Won Gold at the 2015 World Juniors

In 2015, Darnell Nurse was selected to be a shutdown defender on Team Canada’s blue line at the WJC, getting his first taste of being teammates with McDavid before the two suited up for the Oilers.
Nurse was a force on the back end for Team Canada, finishing the tournament with a goal and an impressive plus +8 rating. Moreover, he put on a defensive clinic in the final game against the Russians, bringing physicality and solid defence. Overall, he was a key factor in Canada’s gold-medal victory on home ice in a thrilling 5-4 win, and he was named Canada’s Player of the Game.
The Hamilton, ON native was heavily relied on to play important minutes in crucial situations for Team Canada and here’s another impressive feat — he wasn’t on the ice for a single even-strength goal the entire tournament. Ultimately, he was named one of the team’s best three players for the tournament, along with Max Domi and Sam Reinhart.

Kasperi Kapanen Won Gold at the 2016 World Juniors

Oilers forward Kasperi Kapanen was part of a star-studded Team Finland at the 2016 WJC, which was hosted on home ice in Finland, and the roster featured future NHL stars like Patrik Laine, Sebastian Aho, and Mikko Rantanen.
Team Finland defeated Canada 6-5 in the quarterfinals and edged out Sweden 4-3 in the semis, setting up a showdown with Russia in the gold medal game, where current Oiler Kapanen cemented himself as a Finnish hero. Russia scored with just six seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime, and in OT, Kapanen emerged as the hero, deking two defenders, wrapping around the net, and putting home the game-winning goal, which kicked off the celebration in Finland.
The win marked Finland’s fourth-ever gold medal at the World Juniors, and among the star-studded lineup of Finns, it was former Oiler Jesse Puljujärvi who stood out, tallying 17 points in seven games and took home tournament MVP honours.
In saying that, although Kapanen didn’t receive MVP honours, he was undeniably the hero of the gold medal game, as the Oilers forward summarized at the time, “Everything’s so blurry.” He added, “So excited and in shock at the same time.” Moreover, with Kapanen’s experience scoring a huge OT goal to capture the gold medal, that clutch experience could serve the Oilers very well in the playoffs this season.
With that in mind, Oilersnation, what’s your favourite moment from the World Juniors?

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