Watching the world junior hockey championships will be extra special for self-described hockey fanatic Tayler Anderson.
That is because the 18-year-old from Langley won the Canadian-wide Bauer and Boston Pizza Design-A-Mask Contest.
Anderson won in the 13-to-18-year-old category while Quebec’s Myriam Beaupre took the prize in the 12-and-under category.
“It is pretty cool that I won,” admitted Anderson.
“I was pretty confident in (my design) but you never know.”
This was the first time she entered the contest, which has now run 11 consecutive years.
The rules were fairly straightforward — the design had to have the Hockey Canada logo and a Team Canada theme.
The judging was done based on theme, creativity and the artwork.
Being a hockey fan — she is a huge Vancouver Canucks supporter — and an artist, she decided to enter the contest.
The idea and design took her a couple of days to come up with, but Anderson said she kept it fairly simple.
Hockey Canada sifted through the more than 1,000 entries and narrows it down to five in each category.
A selection panel — which includes a member of the Hockey Canada high performance staff, a Bauer representative, and artist David Arrigo then select the two winners.
Arrigo does the actual painting of the two masks, with the winners each receiving a duplicate of the mask signed by members of this year’s Canadian junior national team. 
“This contest gives young Canadians — whether they are players, fans or aspiring artists — the chance to be a part of Canada’s national junior team,” said Brad Pascall, the vice-president of hockey operations/national teams for Hockey Canada.
Anderson’s mask will be worn during the tournament — which begins today (Dec. 26) in Sweden — by Jake Paterson, a Detroit Red Wings draft pick who plays in the Ontario Hockey League.
Each winner also receives a Team Canada jersey autographed by the team, Bauer apparel, Boston Pizza gift cards, and their choice of either attending next year’s junior team selection camp or tickets to a game. Next year’s world junior championships are being co-hosted by Toronto and Montreal.
Anderson, who graduated from Brookswood Secondary in 2013, is studying fashion design at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
