Former Surrey Eagles defender Devon Toews has never represented Canada at a higher level than during the last week and a half at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and it ended with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory against the United States at Boston’s TD Garden.
For Toews, it was a moment years in the making. From his days in the BCHL with the Eagles to becoming a Stanley Cup champion in the National Hockey League with the Colorado Avalanche, he had only worn the Canadian maple leaf once in his career – at the 2012 World Junior A Challenge.
Toews, paired on Team Canada with superstar Cale Makar – his regular blueline partner in Colorado – was a steady presence throughout the competition and played top minutes. In the gold medal game, the native of Abbotsford, B.C. was on the ice for 27:27, second on Canada behind only Makar.
He finishes the tournament with no points in four games and a minus-1 rating to go along with two penalty minutes. Toews was a minute-muncher though, winding up the tournament with the fourth-highest average time on ice per games-played at 24:06. Only Makar, Sweden’s Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Finland’s Esa Lindell of the Dallas Stars were ahead of him.
The 31-year-old played two seasons in the BCHL with Surrey, finishing with 17 goals and 59 assists for 76 points in 102 games before moving on to Quinnipiac University. Toews also skated in 29 Fred Page Cup playoff games in the BCHL, tallying five goals and 16 assists for 21 points.
His trophy case from his BCHL days is loaded, including being named to the BCHL All-Rookie Team in 2011-12 and the BCHL Coastal Conference First All-Star Team in 2012-13. That same season he was named the BCHL Coastal Conference Best Defenseman and RBC Cup Top Defenseman. He was a BCHL champion with the Eagles in 2013 as well.
Photo credit: (@Avalanche / X)
