Country Day’s Grant skates to gold with U-18 Team Canada

CDS student Teagan Grant (left) celebrates a preliminary round goal for Team Canada in the 2019 IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championship in Japan.

By Jake Courtepatte

Country Day School student Teagan Grant has officially joined an elite club, the envy of all Canadians: scoring a goal while wearing the maple leaf on your chest.
The Grade 12 defenceman earned the gold medal along with Team Canada at the Under-18 Women's World Hockey Championship in Obihiro, Japan earlier this month, her first time making the roster and having her dream come true.
She posted one goal in the tournament, during a 5-1 routing of Russia in an almost perfect preliminary round for the Canadian squad. A clapper from the top of the circle off a pass from Maddi Wheeler put Canada up 4-0, closing out the opening round before the Canadians ousted Russia in a rematch in the semifinal.
It was less than two minutes into the overtime period against the United States in the final, with the game tied at 2-2, when Wheeler cut to the middle and buried the gold medal-winning goal.
“Thank you (Hockey Canada) for an incredible 17 days,” Grant tweeted after the gold medal game. “Nothing feels better than winning gold alongside 22 amazing girls.”
“We are incredibly proud of our team's effort and our athletes' ability to overcome adversity when we found ourselves trailing in the game,” head coach Howie Draper told The Canadian Press. “It's a great feeling to win a world championship and bring a gold medal back to Canada, and I couldn't be more proud of our athletes and staff for this amazing accomplishment.”
Invited to the Canadian selection camp in August, it was a case of deja-vu for Grant, who was on her second stint at the week-long event after first earning an invite in 2017.
As the youngest to attend last year's camp, Grant was eventually cut, yet made it a goal to reach the final roster this time around.
“I remember when my Bantam coaches first started to encourage me to try out for Team Canada,” said Grant. “The more success I experienced, the more I realized it was attainable.”
Her success at the Under-18 National Championship in Quebec as part of Team Ontario, where she took home a silver medal, further solidified her position on the maps of Hockey Canada scouts.
Formerly of the Temiskaming Shores Puckhounds, Grant's success with the Toronto Jr. Aeros has propelled her into a position with the University of Wisconsin Badgers next season, an honour she will share with fellow Team Canada player Wheeler. The Badgers are consistently ranked among the top women's NCAA teams in the country, reaching the Frozen Four in the NCAA tournament in each of the last five years.