It was a birthday Dowling's Yves Bastien will never forget.
On Aug. 2, Bastien learned he was named to Canada's Under-18
hockey team and was going to be travelling to Slovakia and the
Czech republic to compete in the 2006 U-18 Junior World Cup.
Ten days later, Bastien, 17, had a gold medal around his
neck having helped Canada skate to a 3-0 win over the American
team in the tournament final.
Upon his arrival at the Sudbury Airport, about 30 family and
friends greeted him.
"It was great to see everybody behind me," Bastien said,
adding it was an honour just to wear his country's colours on
the international stage, never mind taking home the
tournament's top prize.
"Just to wear that Canadian jersey was one of my dreams.
I've been looking forward to it and trying to get to that level
ever since I was a little kid.
"It's every hockey players dream to represent their
country," he said.
"It just felt great, even to hear the national anthem on the
blue line before the first game."
Canada's head coach at the tournament, Cory Clouston, said
Bastien brought a lot of energy to the team and spent the
majority of his time on the penalty kill.
"In that role he did an outstanding job," Clouston said. "We
liked what we saw in camp as far as his work ethic and his
speed and we thought he'd do a good job for us and he did that.
Bastien finished the tournament with two points, both
assists, in four games. He was a plus two and helped Canada
finish with 88 percent penalty killing efficiency.
Clouston said the coaching staff never addressed the players
about playing hockey for Canada and the pressure that comes
with wearing the red and white jersey.
"We tried to focus on what we needed to do and not look any
further ahead than our next task, whether it was a practice or
a game or a meeting and try to keep the boys as focused and as
grounded as possible."
Although he wasn't played hockey in the summer in awhile,
Bastien hopes the tournament will help him prepare for this
season with the Rangers where he knows he'll be counted on to
produce and be a leader on the team.
"It definitely gave me a confidence boost and I think I'll
have a bigger role in Kitchener being one of the older guys
this year. I think it set me up good," he said.
"This was big for me but now I look forward to what's next."
If Bastien has his way, Canadians will be rooting him on as he plays for his country again in the World Junior Hockey Championships in December.
