There was probably a collective “you’ve got to be kidding me” moment across Vancouver when Finland’s Toni Utunen scored the overtime winner to knock Canada out of the tournament.
Not only did the Canucks’ prospect defenceman score the game-winning goal, he did it against Team Canada, against Canucks prospect Michael DiPietro, and he did it at Rogers Arena.
How’s that for irony?
All in all, four Canucks prospects played in the 2019 rendition of the World Juniors. While the bigger names such as Quinn Hughes and Michael DiPietro drew most of the attention entering the tournament, it was the lesser-known prospects that really raised some eyebrows in Vancouver (and Victoria).