Melfort Mustangs' defenceman Tao Flory - left, alongside Melfort Mustangs' head coach Trevor Blevins - right, with their silver medals at the 2025 World Junior A Challenge (Melfort Mustangs/Facebook)

By Ben Tompkins

World Junior A Challenge

‘Amazing chemistry’: Blevins and Flory help Canada West to WJAC Silver

Dec 17, 2025 | 10:18 AM

Two members of the Melfort Mustangs’ organization have now returned from their international debuts, bringing back home some nice hardware.

Defenceman Tao Flory and Head Coach Trevor Blevins were with Canada West for two weeks as part of the 2025 World Junior A Challenge, in which they won a silver medal.

“We got better every day, and really the buy-in in our dressing room was exactly that; the players knew we were getting better every day, even in a short tournament and a short turnaround in games. We stuck with it, and I’m super proud of how all the players bought in,” explained Blevins.

“It was a phenomenal experience to have Tao there; he was great, and it was awesome to be a part of it with him. Obviously, the Melfort connection was great to have, but I’d have to say, as a whole, the chemistry with everyone was absolutely amazing. The chemistry off the ice helped with the chemistry and the culture within the dressing room and on the ice with the players. It was just a great group; they came together very quickly, and it showed on the ice.”

Canada West defeated the previously unbeaten Canada East squad in the semi-finals to advance to the Gold Medal game for the ultimate rivalry and ultimate prize… Canada vs USA for all the marbles.

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Unfortunately, USA was virtually unstoppable, winning 5-1, handing Canada West a well-deserved silver.

“In the preliminary round, we played against the States, and it was probably the most intense game I’ve ever played, so it was unbelievable. In the final, it was so cool to watch, even from the stands, to just see all the boys battle for each other; it was just amazing. Seeing how intense Blevins got on the bench, just wanting that medal and win, was just so amazing. Even up in the stands, I was rooting for the boys all the way through, and it was just amazing,” Flory added.

“The whole thing was just such a cool experience, especially with Blevins there too, going through all the battles and stuff with the coach from home, it was amazing, and it feels good… you could tell all the boys were nervous the first couple of days there, but we bonded really quickly. We played a few games together and just gelled, and it was like we were all best friends. Every night off, we were doing things together, so the connection with all of the guys was amazing.”

For Flory, that connection on the ice was only for the first couple of games, before getting hurt and missing the final two games of the tournament. An unfortunate time for an injury, however, Flory still got a lot from the event.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8