Devon Levi put on a dominant performance at the World Juniors as the goaltender for team Canada without having played a major junior or collegiate hockey game .
Before the tournament, the last time Levi had played a competitive game of hockey was with the Carleton Place JR A Canadians. At the tournament, Levi tied the all-time shutout record for a single tournament with three shutouts. He also backstopped the Canadian squad all the way to a silver medal.
Levi won six of the seven games he started at the World Juniors and gave up an average of less than one goal per game. He received the best goaltender award and made the all-star team of the tournament for his performance.
While Levi was relatively unknown to the majority of the hockey world before the tournament, his success came as no surprise to his former Canadians teammates—especially his former head coach with the Canadians, Jason Clarke.
“I said to our staff, if given the opportunity he would probably solidify himself as the number one goaltender,” Clarke said. “I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted him breaking those records, but knowing him for a year and how much work he puts in, it wasn’t shocking to me.”
Levi was no stranger to success in his lone season with the Canadians. The Canadians play in a sub league of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) called the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL). In that lone season he received many awards, including CCHL best goaltender, CCHL MVP, CJHL top goaltender, as well as CJHL player of the year.
Levi’s teammates saw much of the same success and performance that he put on display for team Canada. His former teammate with the Canadians, defenseman Brett Thorne, was impressed by his mental determination and dedication to the game in his time playing with him.
“Devon’s one of the most mentally tough goalies I’ve played with,” he said. Coach Clarke echoed this sentiment. “He’s just very, very consistent. He plays the same way all the time, never really has any lows. It made it really easy for us to play the game the way we like to play it because of him.”
He also helped allow the defense to play with more confidence and improve their game, said former teammate Elliott McDermott.
“In games, he was so confident in playing the puck that he acted as a third defenceman for us, which took a lot of pressure off our defensive core when breaking the puck out. Additionally, as a more mobile, and offensively minded defence core, he gave us the confidence to jump in the rush and make plays, since we knew he had our backs,” McDermott said in an email.
Their season was unfortunately cut short before the playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the team was a dominant one. The impression Levi made on Hockey Canada and the CJHL could leave a lasting impact. Typically, Canada’s World Junior roster is made up only of players from major junior leagues like the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) or NCAA schools.
“He has gained a lot of attention and I believe he has forced Canada to avoid overlooking Junior A hockey when assembling their team for the World Juniors,” McDermott said in the email.
Thorne said Levi’s performance could serve as an “eye opener” to the talent that is in the CCHL and to the idea that the league shouldn’t be overlooked.
Since the Canadians last played, Levi was drafted by the Florida Panthers and has joined the Northeastern University hockey team. “He has earned every bit of success that he has achieved, and I am very proud of him for that,” McDermott said.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
