CREDIT: ANDREW STEPHENSON OF SHAKE MEDIA AND THE LONDON KNIGHTS
Alex Formenton led the way to help Team Canada claim victory at the World Junior Championship (WJC) on Jan. 5.

After falling to the U.S. in a devastating loss at last year's World Junior Championship (WJC), Team Canada now emerges with gold medals draped around their necks for the first time since 2015, after defeating Team Sweden 3-1.

Instrumental to the Canadian's gold medal victory was Knight's own Alex Formenton. The Ottawa Senators second round draft pick posted four points over seven games, contributing two goals and two assists over the course of the tournament.

His biggest contribution by far however, occurred during the championship game, to essentially guarantee Canada its first gold medal in three years.

After teammate Tyler Steenbergen put Canada on top 2-1, Alex Formenton buried an empty net goal in the dying seconds of regulation, sealing the win for Team Canada.

Although the young star is destined for more great moments as he continues to build his professional career, this will forever be engrained in his memory as one of his most meaningful achievements.

“Having such a close game, then scoring at the end, it's almost like a fairy tale, a dream. Being part of stuff like that, growing up playing on the pond, then being able to live it first-hand, is unbelievable,” Formenton said in a Jan. 7, Toronto Star article. “Now I know what it takes to win a championship.”

As Formenton returns to the Knights for the remainder of the 2018 season, hopefully, this winning attitude will become contagious amongst the rest of his teammates as the Knights seek out their first Memorial Cup title since being led by Mitch Marner in 2016.

And while averaging over a point per game thus far this season, Formenton is setting a tremendous example for his fellow London teammates to follow.

Additionally, Formenton is one of only three Canadians that will be eligible to return to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Juniors in 2019, in addition to St. Louis Blues first round draft pick Robert Thomas, and Anaheim Ducks second round draft pick, Maxime Comtois.

In other news, the Knights have been active on their trading block.

As of Jan. 8, Robert Thomas returned to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) from the World Juniors as a Hamilton Bulldog in a trade for Connor McMichael.

Although Thomas posted a staggering 46 points this season compared to McMichael's 10 point effort, the Knights are glad to have acquired McMichael in order to build for the future, considering Thomas's OHL career will likely end this season.

This sentiment was shared in a Jan. 8 article, featured on the Knights' official website.

“We're very excited to bring in Connor to help build for a very competitive future,” Knights general manager, Rob Simpson said. “Connor is a very smart, and defensively responsible forward who we look forward to seeing develop for years to come.”

Additionally, on Jan. 9, the Knights traded away Sam Miletic to the Niagara IceDogs for a series of second and third round draft picks that extend all the way to 2025.

Miletic, who has been with the Knights since 2015, demonstrated tremendous improvement over his young career with the London unit, contributing 54 points this season, which is just one point shy of last year's points total in nearly half the amount of games played.

“We are very proud of what Sam has been able to accomplish as a member of the London Knights,” Simpson said, in a Jan. 9 article on the Knights' website. 

“He has a chance to go to a very young and competitive team where he will be able to compete for a championship. We would like to thank him for all of his passion and dedication he brought to our franchise,” Simpson said.