Chippewas of Rama First Nation member helps Canada win gold medal at world hockey tournament
By Sam Laskaris
BURKETON – Sydney Sawyer is well past her Show and Tell days at school, but the Chippewas of Rama First Nation member who is in her final year of high school studies has a pretty good reason to bring a cherished new possession to school.
That’s because Sawyer was a member of the Canadian women’s under-18 hockey squad that captured the gold medal at its world tournament, which concluded on Jan. 12 in Vantaa, Finland.
Sawyer played an instrumental role in the championship final as she earned a pair of assists, helping Canada blank the United States 3-0.
Sawyer, a 17-year-old who plays defence, spoke to Anishinabek News moments after her flight landed in Toronto and while she was en route to her home in Burketon, a Clarington village.
“It’s a pretty awesome feeling,” she said of the fact she is now a world champion.
Sawyer is finishing up her Grade 12 studies at Clarington Central Secondary School. She missed the first week of January classes at her school while participating at the world tournament. When possible, she said she tried to keep up with her studies by doing some schoolwork in Finland.
Sawyer said she had plenty of support while she was abroad.
“My teachers were all watching [the tournament],” she said. “And they were texting me throughout the event.”
Sawyer added she was planning to bring her shiny new bling to school.
Besides chipping in with a pair of key assists in the gold-medal contest, Sawyer also contributed offensively throughout the world tournament.
She ended up with eight points, including a pair of goals, in six games.
Czechia won the bronze medal at the tourney, downing Sweden 2-1 in the battle for third place.
The eight-team event also included Finland, Japan, Slovakia, and Switzerland.
Canada kicked-off the tourney with a 6-2 victory over Slovakia. Sawyer and her teammates then downed Switzerland 5-1.
Canada followed that up by blanking Czechia 5-0 before posting a lopsided 17-0 triumph against Japan.
The Canadians advanced to the gold-medal match by doubling Czechia 4-2 in their semi-final outing. The American booked their ticket into the final by edging Sweden 2-1 in their semi-final.
Sawyer had an inkling of what to expect from the United States club in the final.
That’s because she had made her international debut this past August, dressing for Canada’s three-game exhibition series against the U.S.
All three of those matches were held in Thorold, Ont. The Canadians won two of those games and lost the other one in a shootout.
Sawyer said her club had entered the world tournament with aspirations of winning the gold medal. She wasn’t surprised to end up playing the U.S. in the final.
The two squads were scoreless after the opening period. Canada scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the ninth minute of the middle frame.
The Canadians added a pair of insurance goals in the third period.
“It was obviously a close game and I was a little nervous,” Sawyer said.
Now that she’s returned home, Sawyer will rejoin her club team, the Etobicoke Jr. Dolphins, for the remainder of its season in the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association’s Under-22 Elite league.
Sawyer will then be taking her talents to the U.S., starting with the 2025-26 campaign as she has accepted a scholarship offer from New York’s Colgate University.