TORINO, Italy – A trio of Dinos are coming back to Calgary with gold medals in hand in men's hockey from the 2025 FISU Winter World University Games in Torino, Italy.

Mark Howell - both head coach of the Dinos men's hockey team and Team Canada at this year's Games - guided the Red and White to a 3-1 win over Slovakia in the gold-medal game Friday, with Dinos forward Colson Gengenbach netting the game-winning goal in the process.

After a challenging preliminary round, Team Canada built chemistry, found its game, and silenced any doubters, culminating in the second straight gold medal for Team Canada.

In front of a sold-out crowd at PalaTazzoli, the Canadians were leading 1-0 seven minutes into the second when Gengenbach doubled up the lead. A tic-tac-toe play went from Concordia's Simon Lavigne to UQTR's Conor Frenette, who found Gengenbach in the slot. From there, the Dino did the rest, beating goaltender Patrik Andrisik and sending the Canadian fans in attendance into a frenzy for what proved to be the game winner.

When the final buzzer sounded, Canada claimed a second consecutive FISU gold medal, repeating for the first time in history at the event. Howell also had a big hand in the 2023 gold, serving as an assistant coach in Lake Placid. This marks Canada's sixth title since the tournament's inception in 1962 and the country's fourth since 2007.

Gengenbach finished the tournament with eight goals and three assists in seven games. 

Also earning a gold medal is Dr. Ryan Shields of the UCalgary Faculty of Kinesiology, who served as the Chief Medical Officer at this year's games.

-UC-