Former Swift Current Broncos forward Aleksi Heponiemi is a world champion after Finland defeated the United States 3-2 in the gold medal game at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Vancouver on Saturday.
Kappa Kakko scored with 1:26 remaining in regulation to lift Finland to its third gold medal in the past six years.
Heponiemi assisted on a third-period goal from Otto Latvala that put Finland ahead 2-0 before the Americans fought back to tie the game.
The 5’10’’ native of Tampere finished the tournament tied for the tournament lead with nine points in seven games to go along with a plus-seven rating.
Heponiemi piled up 204 points in 129 regular season games with the Broncos and added 38 points in 40 playoff games over two seasons.
He was a second round pick of the Florida Panthers in the 2017 NHL Draft.
