Another gold medal for Team Canada in the spring of 2021 and another North Bay golden connection!
In May is was Ben Gaudreau capturing gold with Canada at the IIHF Under-18 Men's Championship, and today it's Nick Paul winning gold with Team Canada at the 2021 IIHF World Hockey Championships in Latvia.
Former Battalion star Nick Paul netted the overtime winner for Team Canada in a 3-2 overtime victory over Finland Sunday afternoon.
Paul, who plays for the Ottawa Senators, won a defensive zone draw during three-on-three play and took possession and rushed down the right wing feeding Senators teammate Connor Brown who feathered the puck across the slot and Paul slipped it into the empty side while down on one knee for the golden goal in OT.
It was a storied comeback for Nick Paul and Team Canada which started the tournament with three straight losses and needed other teams to even help Team Canada make it into the quarterfinals.
"It is awesome, we started off 0 and 3, not the start we want but we came together as a group," Paul told TSN post game.
"People counted us out but we knew we would come together as a group and take this to the end and we did it tonight. It was closer than we wanted it to be but it was an unbelievable hard-fought game and I am super proud right now."
Paul was not the only North Bay connection to Team Canada, as former North Bay Centennials head coach Mike Kelly, was an assistant coach on Gerard Gallant's staff.
See related: Nick Paul reflects back on his Golden Moment
See related: Chasing an OHL Dream
See related: Gaudreau feels some Golden deja vu
For Paul, he now has another gold medal to add to his 2015 IIHF World Junior Gold he won with Team Canada that season.
Paul, was named as an inspiration for local hockey player Chase Thompson who was selected by the Battalion in the OHL Priority Selection Saturday, and now Paul has become an inspiration for an entire country.
Without question, Battalion Nation is very proud of Nick Paul today.
