OWEN SOUND, Ont. – Thunder Bay’s Carter George will once again represent his country on the international stage.
The 17-year-old goaltender has been named to Canada's roster for the IIHF World Under-18 Hockey Championship, which takes place from April 25 to May 4 in Espoo and Vantaa, Finland.
This marks the second time that George has donned the Maple Leaf. He earned a gold medal at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament last August.
George recently wrapped up his first full season in the Ontario Hockey League with the Owen Sound Attack.
He recorded a 23-21-6-3 record with a 3.30 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. His four shutouts had him in a tie with Jackson Parsons of the Kitchener Rangers and Michael Simpson of the London Knights for the most in the OHL.
George also started all four games for the Attack in their opening round playoff loss to the Saginaw Spirit. He had a 4.08 goals against average and a .904 save percentage against this year’s Memorial Cup hosts.
Earlier on Tuesday, it was announced that George was ranked second among North American goaltenders by NHL Central Scouting for this year's draft.
George, who was placed first overall when the mid-term list was released on Jan. 12, was surpassed in Tuesday’s final rankings by Mikhail Yegorov of the United States Hockey League’s Omaha Lancers.
He is expected to be picked within the first three rounds of the NHL draft, which takes place on June 28 and 29 in Las Vegas.
Boston Terriers forward Macklin Celebrini was ranked first overall among North American skaters and is widely expected to be the top pick.
Russian defenceman Anton Silayev and Finnish netminder Eemil Vinni led the way for international skaters and goaltenders.
