Nick Merkley has tasted gold on the international stage.
The Calgary teen, who skates for the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets and is a first-round draft choice of the Arizona Coyotes, skated to victory at last summer’s Ivan Hlinka Tournament in the Czech Republic.
You bet that experience included the joy of standing of on the blueline with his band of brothers and singing ‘O Canada’ with the gold medal draped around his neck.
“It’s a pretty special moment,” Merkley recalled. “We had a pretty dominant team and won every game by four or five goals.