Stankoven, Bankier return to Kamloops to raucous crowd at Fulton Field after gold medal win at World Juniors

Stankoven added, “It was unbelievable. I didn’t expect this many people to show up, so just goes to show how great the community is here in Kamloops. The support, it’s unbelievable, it’s crazy. It almost feels like I’m in a movie, being able to show up and have hundreds of people here waiting for me. I can’t thank them enough for coming out and supporting myself and Banks.”

The Blazers duo is back 24 hours after the elation of winning a gold medal — 3-2 over Czechia in overtime on Thursday — at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Halifax.

“I kind of blacked out,” said Bankier after Dylan Guenther’s OT winner. “As soon as it went in, I jumped off as fast as I could to get out there and when I got out there it was just dead silent because the crowd was so loud. It was kind of a blur.”

Stankoven added, “I thought it had missed the net at first. I thought it maybe hit the side of the net, but I watched the replay and it was a nice one-touch shot by Guenther. He’s got a heck of a shot, so it was nice to see him pot that one and end the game.”

It’s Bankier’s first-ever World Junior gold with Hockey Canada, but Stankoven’s second and third overall gold with Hockey Canada after the U18 world title in 2021.

It’s also his second experience with a golden goal at the World Juniors. In the summer, he assisted on Kent Johnson’s OT winner. On Thursday night, he was on the bench. But both he says are equally special.

“No, it’s the same. I think it’s very similar to the summer-time game — a game where we had the 2-0 lead [against Finland in the August final], end up giving up a couple goals late to tie the game and had to force overtime,” said Stankoven. “[But] no matter if you’re on the bench or on the ice, the feeling’s the same. Winning never gets old. My last opportunity at the world juniors and we end it off with a gold medal, so you can’t ask for anything better than that.”

Stankoven finished the tournament tied for fourth in scoring with 11 points — three goals and eight assists.

He was on the top line all tournament with Connor Bedard, who broke the Canadian record for most points in a single tournament with 23 and now has the most goals and points ever by a Canadian at the World Juniors.

“Yeah it was unbelievable. A few of those games where he’s putting up six, seven points. It’s pretty crazy to see because he’s a couple years younger than me. He’s a 17 year old in this tournament and mainly it’s 19 year olds playing in this tournament,” he said of Bedard’s record-breaking performance. “It’s impressive to see what he’s done. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him up there with the greats like [Connor] McDavid and [Sydney] Crosby soon here.”

The two are going to be playing at the Sandman Centre on Saturday night.

“I worked pretty hard over the years to get to this point — from watching it on TV all these years, Canada winning the medals, and now to finally have one of my own, it’s pretty special. I’m going to put it somewhere special in my house back home,” said Bankier.

by Chad Klassen

Stankoven, Bankier return to Kamloops to raucous crowd at Fulton Field after gold medal win at World Juniors

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