Gostisbehere is Good as Gold

Ghostly.

The Ghost gets Gold! USA beats Sweden 3-1 in the 2013 World Junior Championships, and Gostisbehere is +2 on the night. After a tremendous tournament, the American team captured the IIHF U20 championship after knocking off heavily favored Canada 5-1 to advance to the gold medal game--against the defending champions. Gostisbehere was a part of a very deep defensive corps, including probable 1st overall pick Seth Jones. Three ECAC players won gold in Ufa: Gostisbehere, Harvard rookie Jimmy Vesey, and Cornell Sophomore Cole Bardreau.

Via @USAHockey

A great day for USA Hockey, a great day for Shayne Gostisbehere, a great day for Union College, and for all young players everywhere.

Ghost and Teammates with the Cup!

 

Update: 12:25 PM: Per the inimitable Eric Hornick, Union grad and Islanders statistician:

5 Americans: Mccabe (+9) Biggs (+6), Bardreau/Pietila (+5), Gostisbehere (+4)- were +4 or greater and not on ice for single opponent ES goal
— Eric Hornick (@ehornick) January 5, 2013

Not a bad statistic. Indeed, much of Team USA's success can be traced to its ability to stay out of the box, which is doubly important in the IIHF, which likes to call penalties (and hand out suspensions) as if they're going out of style. Of note: two ECACers (Bardreau, Ghost) are big winners in plus/minus. And oh yeah, let's not forget the outstanding play of John Gibson of the Kitchener Rangers. His stellar GAA of .955(!) beat out Al Montoya's previous WJC record of .944. Montoya, the former Michigan standout, won gold in the 2004 tournament.

And here are the #2013WJC gold medal winners.... Team USA! @usahockey Photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images twitter.com/IIHFHockey/sta…
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) January 5, 2013

Via SB Nation