Jewish Montrealer Devon Levi represents Canada in WJC as starting goalie
Often acting as an important platform for a career in the NHL, success in the World Juniors has helped launch the careers of many hockey greats.
By CODY LEVINETeam Canada winning the Gold Medal at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Hailing from the heavily Jewish Montreal suburb of Dollard-Des-Ormeaux, Devon Levi has joined a select group of goalies - many of whom have had extended careers in the National Hockey League (NHL) - as Canada's starting goaltender in the 2020-2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.Often acting as an important platform for a career in the NHL, success in the World Juniors has helped launch the careers of many hockey greats, including Sidney Crosby, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.After not being originally invited to the Team Canada junior training camp, Levi's success with the Carleton Place Canadians in the Canadian Junior Hockey league (CJHL) and now at Northeastern University, led the team to reconsider him - which is an unusual step since most goalies are drawn from Canada's major junior hockey leagues, the WHL, OHL and QMJHL.Levi attended Hebrew Foundation School and the private school of West Island College, the latter of which is secular but with a strong Jewish student body. During the 2020 NHL draft, Levi was drafted 212th overall by the NHL's Florida Panthers.While Jewish NHL players are not a completely uncommon phenomena, which currently includes the likes of Zach Hyman, brothers Quinn and Jack Hughes, Jason Zucker, Adam Fox, Jakob Chychrun and André Burakovsky, Levi's role as starting goaltender for Team Canada may help him join the growing list.
