‘It was surreal:’ Steel reflects on World Junior gold

It’s been a week since Sam Steel and Team Canada won gold and the world championship and the feeling hasn’t worn off for him.

“It was such a good game too, it could have gone either way,” Steel said of the gold medal match. “And Steener (Swift Current’s Tyler Steenbergen) does what he does and put the puck in the net and it’s still pretty unbelievable.”

There was just 1:40 left on the clock when Steenbergen potted that winning goal – his first of the tournament –but as the clock ticked down it was Steel who was on the ice.

“It was surreal, being on the ice for those last 45 seconds when we’re playing keep away at the end, knowing that you secured a gold medal, was an unbelievable feeling. It was pretty special,” he said after Friday’s game at the Brandt Centre.

The Regina Pats captain returned to the lineup for the first time since winning the championship on Jan. 7 as the club sent him home for a short post-tournament break.

He used the time to catch up with family and friends, relax and reflect on a pretty amazing experience.

Before leaving for the tournament Steel talked about watching the game when was he was young and going out to the rink to mimic the players he saw.

He beamed as it was mentioned kids would be pretending to be him now out on the rinks near their homes.

“It’s pretty crazy to think about, (it’s) just an unbelievable experience and I’m really lucky to be a part of it.”

Steel comes back to a completely revamped Pats roster – one that had a few growing pains in Friday night’s win against the Medicine Hat Tigers – but overall he’s excited for what’s to come now that he’s back with his WHL team.

“It’s an exciting time. This is the last stretch here to the Memorial Cup and we want to go in through the front door,” he said.