Red Wings goalie prospect Trey Augustine relishes gold-medal experience with United States at 2024 World Juniors

Detroit Red Wings goalie prospect Trey Augustine counts his experience at the 2024 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, which ran from Dec. 26 – Jan. 5 at Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden, among his most special.

Winning all four of his tournament starts, Augustine posted a 1.75 goals-against average and .936 save percentage to help the United States earn its sixth all-time gold medal and most recent since 2021.  

“It’s awesome,” said Augustine, whose 24-save performance helped the U.S. defeat Sweden, 6-2, in the gold-medal game on Jan. 5. “You grow up watching that tournament as a kid, so being able to live in that moment and experience what it’s like, such a unique opportunity.”

Augustine, a South Lyon, Mich., native who was the Red Wings’ 41st overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, said his approach helped him keep calm under the pressure of playing on an international stage.

“Obviously you can’t control what’s going to happen out there,” Augustine said. “It’s just making sure you stay levelheaded, so focus is a huge part of it. It’s about navigating through those big moments and trying to do everything you can to help the team win.”

Throughout the tournament, Augustine shared the American crease and roomed with fellow goaltender Jacob Fowler, a freshman at Boston College and the Montreal Canadiens’ 2023 third-round draft pick (No. 69).

“He’s a great person and a good goalie,” Augustine said about Fowler. “It’s super important to have competition at positions to push each other and make each other better. I’m super lucky I was able to stay with him these past couple weeks, trying to take some things from his game and implement them in mine. He’s such a talented player, so it was a great opportunity to be able to work with a guy like that.”

Augustine said being immersed in Gothenburg for 10 days was also a unique experience.  

“It’s a cool city,” Augustine said. “You’re able to frequently walk around and stuff, so it was pretty cool to take in the culture as a whole and talk to the Swedish people.”

Augustine is still catching up on sleep after returning from Sweden this past weekend, but said he is excited to continue his freshman season at Michigan State. Entering Wednesday, the 17-year-old was 11-3-2 with a 2.97 GAA and .916 SV% in 17 games with the Spartans.

“I love it here in East Lansing,” Augustine said. “It’s a great city to put a college in, so being able to go to classes and get my feet wet here has been pretty cool. Obviously on the hockey side we’ve been doing super well as a team, so looking forward to keeping that going this weekend and into the second half of the year.”

In addition to the constant feedback from the Spartans’ coaching staff, Augustine said he receives development tips from Red Wings Head of Goaltending Scouting and Development Phil Osaer.  

“He’ll send me a couple clips or notes of stuff he saw in games for me to work on and improve,” Augustine said. “But it’s nothing too intense, pretty relaxed communication right now to try to help me continue my development.”