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Canadian captain Brayden Yager shared his thoughts about the support he received from NHL stars after being named Team Canada's captain for the World Juniors last week.
Among those who reached out were Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey and forward Mark Scheifele. Yager noted that receiving messages from such prominent players made him feel valued and acknowledged.
"Sid reached out, it was really cool. And you know, obviously that a lot of the Jets players, (Josh) Morrissey, (Mark) Scheifele, (Adam) Lowry, the captain there, and, yeah, the coaching staff, GMs, and just a lot of cool people to reach out," Yager said.
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He also highlighted how proud his family is, especially his dad, who gave him fist bumps upon learning the news. While Brayden Yager is thrilled about the recognition, the 19-year-old made it clear that his main goal is to lead the team to success in the tournament.
"It kind of makes you feel pretty good when they're kind of paying attention to and yeah, obviously family too is the first to know, and they're, they're pretty proud," he said.
"And Dad gave a fist bump and was pretty excited. So, yeah, I think it's exciting, but you know I think the end goal is to you know when is the team here."
Brayden Yager's Team Canada pummels Finland
Team Canada began its World Junior Championship campaign with an impressive 4-0 victory over Finland.
Gavin McKenna found the net late in the first period, and Carter George delivered a stellar performance between the pipes with 31 saves to secure a shutout win over Finland in the opening game of the World Junior Hockey Championship on Thursday.
“We’ve got a really special group,” Yager said. “We’ve got the team to do something really special.”
Easton Cowan also contributed a point for Canada, while captain Brayden Yager registered one shot on goal in the matchup.
Team Canada will face Latvia next on Friday.
