Guenther, Cooley Reflect on World Juniors Experience

The Arizona Coyotes' young talent showed a lot of mettle last week.
Along with it came some medals.
Dylan Guenther won a gold medal with Team Canada in the 2023 World Junior Championship, while Logan Cooley and Sam Lipkin each earned a bronze with Team USA.
Guenther, in fact, won the gold for Canada with an overtime, championship-winning goal.
"It's surreal," Guenther said. "It was just a 2-on-1, and I was trying to score. It's a play that happens all the time, it happens in practice all the time, and when it went in, I was just in shock."

Guenther, who has notched 13 points in 24 games with the Coyotes this season, was loaned to Team Canada to participate in the tournament. He said he wasn't sure as the championship neared if he would be playing in it or not, but was informed by Coyotes management that he would in fact partake, and never looked back.
The 19-year-old had a tournament to remember, too, notching seven goals and three assists as an alternate captain with Team Canada. He had the opportunity to play in front of his home country, and those in attendance did not disappoint.
"The crowd there was unbelievable," he said. "It was the craziest building I've ever played in, and just getting interviewed on the ice you can't even hear yourself think or talk. It was just unbelievable."
The road to gold wasn't easy for Guenther or Canada, especially considering they had to get through Cooley, Lipkin, and Team USA in a semi-final match.
Cooley was one of the World Juniors' top performers, recording seven goals and seven assists in just seven tournament games. The 18-year-old, who was
selected third overall by the Coyotes
in the 2022 NHL Draft this past July, finished second overall in total points - behind only 2023 projected top overall pick Connor Bedard's 23.
He was also named to the tournament's All-Star Team, as well as one of the top three players on Team USA.

Cooley's teammate at the University of Minnesota, Jimmy Snuggerud, was right behind with 13 points. The two have played together for the past three years, and carried that connection into World Juniors, too.
"I just kept it simple," Cooley said. "I played with two great linemates that also helped. The big thing is just trying to have fun with that.
"You don't get to represent your country that often, especially on the world stage like that."
Lipkin, a seventh-round selection of the Coyotes in 2021, finished with one assist in seven games of play.
For Coyotes fans, the main event came in the aforementioned semi-final game, and although Canada ultimately came out on top 6-2 after rolling off six unanswered goals, Cooley opened the scoring -- and even had a little fun with the ensuing celebration.
"To get that first goal was pretty special feeling, and to celebrate at the crowd was something I wanted to do," he said. "It was definitely one of the most fun games I was a part of, and that crowd was so much fun to play in front of.
"It was a packed place and definitely really fun to play in."

Guenther and Team Canada ended up with the final word, though, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to ultimately come away with the win and advance to the final.
Fast-Forward to the tournament's championship game, where Guenther notched two goals and an assist in Canada's 3-2 overtime win over Czechia to clinch the gold medal. His goal sent the home crowd into an absolute frenzy, and also set off a chain of events that added up to more texts, calls, and DMs that he's ever received in his life.
One of the most memorable came from Paul Bissonnette, a wildly popular podcast host, studio analyst and former Coyotes player.
He congratulated Guenther, and asked him to be a guest on his current podcast, Spittin' Chiclets.
"I went on that a few days ago," Guenther said. "I remember going to school when I was 14, and listening to the podcast, so to be on that, and to get a text from him was pretty cool."
As for Cooley and Team USA, they clinched the bronze medal with a nail-biting 8-7 win over Team Sweden, and the Coyotes prospect finished with one goal and one assist in the game. The medal was validation of sorts for Arizona's top prospect, who has accomplished pretty much all there is to accomplish in his freshman year of NCAA hockey.
Understandably, Guenther's golden goal was a bittersweet feeling for the American forward, who had hoped to be playing for the gold medal himself. Even so, he and Guenther spent some time together at this past offseason's rookie development camp, and he was happy for his potential future teammate.
"He's a great player, and I'm really looking forward to be able to play on the same team as him," Cooley said. "Obviously Canada is a rival and I wasn't I wasn't pumped to see them win, but if anyone had to score it, I'm glad it was him.
"He's a great kid, a great player, and I'm really excited for the future with him."

Life After World Juniors

There truly was no rest for the weary, as both Cooley and Guenther quickly returned to their previous hockey lives. For Cooley, that meant a quick turnaround and back-to-back games against highly ranked St. Cloud State.
He wasted no time returning to his heroics, either, scoring the overtime, game-winning goal in Sunday's game against the Huskies.

"It was definitely a grind to get through. I was I was pretty exhausted," Cooley said. "Our coach Bob Motzko gave us two days off after that.
"To get a split with St. Cloud was huge, it definitely was a fun series against them, and I was happy we got the split."
Guenther's "welcome back" present, meanwhile, included a visit from Pittsburgh Penguins superstar and Canadian hero Sidney Crosby while the Pens were in Tempe to play the Coyotes last weekend.

The moment was full circle for Guenther, who idolized Crosby while growing up. Crosby, of course, scored arguably the biggest golden goal in Canadian history, topping Team USA in overtime in the 2010 Olympic Games.
"I remember watching it, I'll never forget that goal," Guenther said. "To play against my hero and to be able to chat with him a little bit the day before the game, and share a similar experience seems crazy. It's something I won't forget."

Guenther picked up right where he left off, notching a goal and an assist in Thursday's game against the Ottawa Senators.
The World Juniors are in the rearview mirror now, but it will always live on in the memories of some of Arizona's top young talent. As the NHL and NCAA seasons wear on, both Guenther and Cooley will continue on their separate paths for the rest of their respective seasons.
For Coyotes fans everywhere, though, the thought of seeing them play together in the not-too-distant future is something that is golden in itself.