Canada's Adam Fantilli Sets Sights On The Olympics: 'Maybe Not Next Year But Five Years From Now'
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - Adam Fantilli's goals for international hockey go far beyond just the 2025 IIHF men's World Championship.
Fantilli took a big step in his sophomore season as he became a 30-goal scorer for the first time in his NHL career and helped the Columbus Blue Jackets resurge from the bottom of the league to nearly making the playoffs.
The 20-year-old seems to be just as good as advertised, and he now looks to take another step in his career by playing for Team Canada at the World Championship.
Given the talent that comes out of Canada, making the 2026 Canadian Olympic team may be a challenge for Fantilli, but he has his sights set on playing at the Winter Games one day. He views the World Championship as a stepping stone for his overall future with the Canadian national team.
'Every time I get a chance, I want to be able to represent my country,' Fantilli said Tuesday. 'It's something I take a lot of pride in. With the Olympics coming up, obviously that's something I want to be a part of, maybe not next year but five years from now. That's been a goal of mine for a long time. I grew up watching guys play in these tournaments, so I want to be one of those guys at some point, too.'
While the center anticipated enjoying this tournament in Stockholm, Sweden, there was one thing that surprised him – and everybody, for that matter.
Some of Canada's best and most legendary players came to play at the World Championship, such as Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury's Last Dance Begins With A Masterclass In Net For Canada At World Championship At 40 years old, Marc-André Fleury still knows how to put on a show.
Being a part of this star-studded roster has been a worthwhile learning experience for Fantilli, who also gets to play with his hockey idol, MacKinnon.
'When I came over here, I wasn't expecting the roster that we have right now,' Fantilli said. 'A lot of those guys are leaders on their team and leaders among the top point-getters in the NHL. It's great to learn from those guys.
'Nate (MacKinnon) is a guy that I grew up wanting to be like and wanting to emulate. Sid (Crosby) is a player who every young Canadian loves, so it's really cool to have both those guys on the same team.'
Austria-Slovakia Shootout Ends in Controversy Austria and Slovakia were tied 2-2 after 65 minutes of hockey, meaning their IIHF World Championship Group A game had to be decided in a shootout.
There is a new generation of young and hungry Canadian hockey players who are ready to take on the torch of representing Canada on an international stage.
Fantilli is one of the players at the top of that list, and he's joined in Sweden by a couple of others, including NHLers Macklin Celebrini and Kent Johnson.
'We're all learning together. We're on the same team right now, which is great,' Fantilli said. 'It's made for a pretty good team on the ice, too, and it's awesome.'
Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Katie Ledecky posts third-fastest time in history to open swimming nationals
Katie Ledecky opened the Toyota U.S. Swimming Championships by winning the 800m freestyle in the third-best time in history, extending a 15-year win streak in her trademark event. Ledecky clocked 8 minutes, 5.76 seconds in Indianapolis to qualify for the World Championships in Singapore in July and August. The only faster times are Ledecky's 8:04.12 from earlier this spring and 8:04.79 from the 2016 Olympics. Advertisement She is in line to become the first U.S. swimmer to compete at a seventh World Championships, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon. Nationals continue Wednesday with finals at 7 p.m. ET, live on Peacock. SWIMMING: Broadcast Schedule | Results In other events Tuesday, Torri Huske took the women's 100m freestyle in 52.43, the fastest time ever in an American pool and the world's best time this year. Huske earned silver at the Olympics in 52.29, her personal best. In the men's 100m free, Jack Alexy swam the second-fastest time in American history and world's best time for 2025 in the prelims (46.99), then won the final in 47.17. Advertisement Luca Urlando captured the men's 200m butterfly in 1:53.42, a time bettered by only one man globally in 2025: Urlando. Back in April, Urlando swam 1:52.37 to become the second-fastest American all-time in the event behind Michael Phelps. He's the world's fastest man this year by 1.33 seconds. Rising Stanford junior Caroline Bricker upset Olympic silver medalist Regan Smith in the women's 200m fly, overtaking her 2:05.80 to 2:05.85. Bricker lowered her personal best by 3.32 seconds over the prelims and final to supplant 2000 Olympic gold medalist Misty Hyman as the fifth-fastest American in history. Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships: Swimming - Day 6 How Jack Alexy sprinted to the top of U.S. swimming Jack Alexy overcame setbacks in the pool to become a U.S. swimming star in 2023.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Gordie Howe's final NHL goal gets a historic change 45 years later
Proponents of video review in hockey argue that they just want to get the call right, no matter how long it takes. Those folks will be happy to know that the NHL's longest scoring review has finally reached a conclusion, and it looks like the league got this one right. It just took 45 years. The review in question was on the final goal — No. 801 — of Gordie Howe's legendary career. Scored on April 9, 1980, for the Hartford Whalers against the Canadiens in the playoffs, Mr. Hockey took a pass from his son, Mark, and beat goaltender Denis Herron to cut Montreal's lead to 8-4. The goal would go down as Howe from Howe. How romantic. Only one problem. The scorer ignored the pass from Whalers goaltender John 'Cheech' Garrett to Mark Howe. 6 Gordie Howe controls the puck before his score. @thirdeyeordie8226/YouTube Garrett, who would play in 207 NHL games before an illustrious career as a broadcaster for the Canucks, didn't initially launch an appeal to the league, but he's been vocal about getting the assist added to his ledger for nearly half a century. In an interview on Sportsnet's 'After Hours' in 2023, Garrett continued his appeal. 6 Goalie John Garrett didn't credit for an assist for 45 years. @thirdeyeordie8226/YouTube 6 Moments before Howe scored. @thirdeyeordie8226/YouTube 'That's a hard pass,' Garrett said in the interview. 'Mark takes it, Mark gives it to Gordie, Gordie scores this beautiful goal. How can I not get an assist on that? I phoned Benny Ercolani — he's now retired, but Benny was the statistician for the league.' Garrett said he didn't complain immediately after the game because of how it would have looked after he conceded eight goals in a loss. But as the years went on, the man known as 'Cheech' used his platform as a broadcaster to raise awareness for his cause. He also had plenty of support from Canucks fans, who launched a social media campaign supporting Garrett's quest back in 2013. 6 John Garrett during a 1982 game. Getty Images All the lobbying has finally paid off. During the second intermission of Game 2 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, 'Hockey Night in Canada' broadcaster Ron MacLean announced the league was finally awarding Garrett with an assist on Mr. Hockey's final goal. 'Colin Campbell of the NHL has begged all of you former NHLers, please do not be writing the league looking for credit on an assist,' joked MacLean. 'They are adding one to the record books, and this is a beauty.' 'John Garrett was denied official status for this assist. He moves the puck. In the record books, it just has Howe from Mark. It did not feature Cheech's assist. It will, forevermore.' 6 Gordie Howe #9 and Mark Howe #5 of the Hartford Whalers look on against the Montreal Canadiens. NHLI via Getty Images 6 Gordie Howe #9 of the Hartford Whalers skates against the Montreal Canadiens in the 1980's at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. NHLI via Getty Images He concluded: 'It's official, John Garrett, you have an assist on the last goal Mr. Hockey ever scored,' he concluded.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Washington Capitals' Spencer Carbery wins the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year
Spencer Carbery of the Washington Capitals has won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year. The league announced the honor Saturday after members of Carbery's family surprised him with the trophy earlier in the week. Carbery is the first person to be named coach of the year in the NHL, American Hockey League and ECHL. Carbery was a runaway winner of the Jack Adams as voted on by the league's broadcasters, receiving 81 of 103 first-place votes. Winnipeg's Scott Arniel was second and Montreal's Martin St. Louis a distant third. In his second season running an NHL bench, Carbery guided Washington to first place in the Eastern Conference. He helped several players set career highs as the Capitals reached the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 'The best thing indication is a lot of our guys had career years, and I think he's a big part of it: the way he communicates, the way he holds guys accountable, the way he can fit guys into certain roles and use their strengths,' Capitals general manager Chris Patrick said at his end-of-season news conference. "I think the relationship between the players and the coach throughout our lineup was excellent this year.' When he was named a finalist last month, Carbery said it was an organizational award. 'I look at our entire staff and everything that they put in, our players, management to provide the players everything,' Carbery said. "It's for my name to be there as the figurehead of the organization, but I look at that to me that's a team-nominated award of what we've done as a coaching staff, management team, our players, what they've accomplished in the regular season.' Carbery drew praise from counterparts around the league for how he got an aging roster into the postseason in his first season in Washington and took it to another level by transforming the Capitals into one of the league's top teams. "He's turned them into a deep, four-line juggernaut that just wins hockey games,' said Tampa Bay's Jon Cooper, the longest-tenured coach in the league who won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and '21 and has made two other trips to the final. 'They do everything right. There's no egos on the team and he's found a way to coach a Hall of Fame superstar and coach players that are just surviving to be in the lineup every night and he's found a way to make it all work.' ___
