Michigan’s Adam Fantilli caps off historic year with gold medal at 2023 World Championships

Adam Fantilli picked up even more hardware to cap off an incredible year of hockey, with Canada’s 5-2 win over Germany at the World Championships on Sunday.

With the win, Fantilli became the first player ever to win gold at both the World Championships and the World Junior Championships, as well as the Hobey Baker Award for best college player, all in the same year. He also joined Jonathan Toews as just the second Canadian player to win gold at both tournaments in the same year.

Fantilli was one of the youngest players in the tournament, and the youngest on Team Canada. He appeared in all 10 games and scored one goal and two assists for three points, averaging just 12:25 ice time per game.

His tournament started strong with two assists in his first two games, both wins over Latvia and Slovenia. But Fantilli was held pointless throughout the rest of the group stage and was ejected for a hit with head contact in a loss to Norway.

Fantilli showed off the exceptional skill that won him the Hobey Baker and will likely see him get his name called at the top of the NHL Draft with his game-winner against Latvia in the semifinal. The goal was his only of the tournament, but it was a beauty. He deked past defenseman Ralfs Freibergs and rifled it past goalie Arturs Silovs.

Calgary Flames forward Milan Lucic assisted on the goal, something Fantilli said was “surreal” to TSN postgame after growing up watching Lucic play. The goal propelled Canada to the finals, where they captured the gold medal for the second time in three years.

The tournament was Fantilli’s last before the June 28 NHL Draft, where he is projected to be a top-five pick.