Kamloops native Logan Stankoven, right, celebrates winning a U18 world championship with his Canadian teammates (Image Credit: Hockey Canada)

By Chad Klassen

U18 GOLD

‘It’s honestly something I’ll remember for the rest of my life’: Stankoven reflects on winning U18 gold

May 10, 2021 | 5:03 PM

KAMLOOPS — Logan Stankoven’s return home to Kamloops wasn’t as triumphant as it would have been in a non-COVID world. Instead, the only fans — and his biggest at that — to greet him were his parents.

“They were pretty excited and obviously proud,” he said. “It’s pretty cool that I got the opportunity to represent Canada on the international stage. They were pretty proud, especially coming home with a gold medal.”

The 18-year-old Stankoven also did the entire city of Kamloops proud. While there was no official celebration at Fulton Field, he was swamped with text messages following the gold-medal win.

“Lots of people [messaged me], definitely after we won. It took me forever to respond to everybody,” he said.

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Stankoven scored what ended up being the game-winning goal in the U18 gold medal game. It was his signature shot, a toe-drag and a quick snap, and it was enough to beat the Russian goaltender.

“The biggest thing for me, I know I need to use my shot to my advantage, so as soon as I got the puck, my first thought was getting the puck on net,” Stankoven told CFJC Today over Zoom. “I tried to use the defenseman as a screen. Luckily enough, the puck got through and it went over the goalie’s shoulder, and as soon as it went into the net, my eyes just lit up. I couldn’t believe it.”

Stankoven didn’t think about the significance of the goal until Russia pulled within one, earning his marker in the second period as the difference-maker in earning Canada its first U18 gold since 2013.

The best moment for him was when captain Shane Wright scored into the empty net, throwing the Canadian bench into a frenzy.

“It’s honestly something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” he said of the bench celebration. “I’ve never been a part of something like that. I think as soon as we saw Shane get that breakaway into the empty net, we knew we’d won it.”

Starting on the third line to begin the tournament, Stankoven played his way up to the second line with 15-year-old phenom Connor Bedard. He ended up with four goals and four assists — Canada’s fifth best scorer in the tournament.

“It’s pretty cool. It gives me some confidence, definitely,” said Stankoven, who’s in the middle of another 14-day quarantine after arriving back in Kamloops on Friday. “Obviously, there are lots of other great players. Our whole team, every single forward can put the puck in the net, so to be a major contributor on the team was awesome and definitely a confidence-booster.”

His performance likely also boosted his draft stock ahead of July’s NHL Entry Draft. Coming into the tournament, Stankoven was a B-list prospect, which indicates a second or third round pick.

“I think [it elevated my draft stock] a bit, but it’s all up to the scouts at the end of the day and everyone else watching,” he said. “I just really tried to take advantage of the ice time that I got and the opportunities that I got because I only had six games with the Blazers and seven games at the U18s here, so that’s not a lot of games. It’s not even 20 games to showcase myself this season, so I just tried to take advantage of every opportunity that I got.”