Terrance reflects on World Juniors experience
For the first time in their history, the United States won back-to-back gold medals at the World Junior Hockey Championships on January 5, defeating Team Finland 4-3 in overtime to do so at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.
Akwesasne’s Carey Terrance was a member of both gold-winning teams, finishing the 2025 tournament with two goals in seven games.
Terrance was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round, 59th overall in the 2023 NHL draft.
The Eastern Door spoke with Terrance about his experience at the World Junior Championships, and what it meant for him to represent his community on one of hockey’s biggest stages.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: How does it feel to have won gold at the 2025 World Junior Championships?
It’s an awesome feeling. I got a chance to go home for a few days after the tournament and just kind of take it all in. It was a really special three weeks, and I’m happy that the team got it done. Obviously, it was a crazy tournament, and there’s even more hype around the tournament when it’s in North America and especially when it’s in Canada, so it’s very special to win in Canada and win two gold medals in a row for the first time.
Q: Last year, you were on Team USA’s roster, but you did not appear in any games during the tournament. Did you have any expectations for yourself and your play going into this year’s tournament?
I think going over to Sweden last year, it really helped me to get familiar with the coaching staff and training staff. I tried to have a sense of comfort coming into this year, knowing everyone, how the coaches want to play the game, and what structure they use throughout the tournament. So, I think that really helped me coming into the tournament. At the World Juniors, everyone has to play a role on the team. Your role might not be the same as on your Junior team or college team. But I think that everyone did their job really well.
Q: Speaking of roles, your role on this team was different than it is for your OHL team, the Erie Otters, where you are the captain and one of the team’s leading scorers, and at the World Juniors, you were tasked with a more defensive role. How did you find that?
In Erie, I’m on the power play. I play a lot of minutes, but that was not part of the plan at the World Juniors. And I didn’t expect that going in, I knew that the role in the tournament would be different than in Erie, it’s more defensive, on the penalty kill, and I roll with more limited minutes. It was just a matter of taking advantage of those minutes.
Q: Part of taking advantage of that role was the second goal you scored during the tournament, a goal on the rush that made the highlight reels in the loss against Finland during the group stage on December 29. What do you think of that moment?
It was a big game for us. Obviously, it was also a tough loss in the preliminary rounds. It’s good to score and contribute to the team. It’s obviously a great feeling to score at the World Juniors, and it was a pretty nice goal. My teammates were really hyped up for me, too.
Q: Another photo that made the rounds was the photo of you celebrating the gold medal win with the Haudenosaunee flag over your shoulders. Why did you do that, and was that something you had already planned on doing before the game?
Last year when we won, there were a lot of guys skating around with USA flags. I knew there was going to be plenty of Haudenosaunee flags all over the rink, because people came from Akwesasne to be there, they came from K-Town, and from other rezes. After we won, and I saw a flag near the glass, I wanted to grab it right away. It means so much to me, being from Akwesasne and taking pride in where I’m from, where I grew up, and where my family is. I was proud that everyone from home and from other rezes were there to support me and follow me along in my journey. It means a lot, and I’m trying to give back to the community as much as I can.
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Q: What comes next for you?
I think after this year, I’ll talk to Anaheim and see what’s in the cards for myself, and kind of go from there. I don’t want to worry about it right now, to be honest. We have a really great team in Erie this year, and if we make the playoffs, we’re going to make a run for the Memorial Cup. So I just want to focus on that right now.
