Bjarnason joins Canada’s U18 team
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/04/2023 (1114 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Carson Bjarnason is going to be playing some spring hockey after all, courtesy of Hockey Canada.
The six-foot-four, 180-pound goaltender from Carberry, who made 47 appearances for the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings this season and posted a 3.08 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage, has been named to men’s under-18 world championship squad. The news was released on Saturday for the U18 event, which takes place from April 20 to 30 in Basel and Porrentruy, Switzerland.
Bjarnason, 17, who just completed his second season with the Wheat Kings and posted a 21-19-5-1 record on a team that missed the playoffs, could be the first goalie taken in the upcoming National Hockey League draft on June 28-29 in Nashville.
Brandon Wheat Kings goalie Brandon Wheat Kings of Carberry, shown at J&G Homes Arena during the team's skills competition on Feb. 12, will be skating with Hockey Canada again this spring after being named to the men's under-18 world championship squad, news that was released on Saturday. (Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun)
The U18 team was selected by former Moose Jaw Warriors general manager Alan Millar, who now serves as Hockey Canada’s director of player personnel, plus senior manager of hockey operations, Benoit Roy, and senior vice-president of hockey operations, Scott Salmond.
“We are excited to unveil the 22 players who will wear the Maple Leaf at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship, as we believe this group brings a lot of talent and experience from the Canadian Hockey League and international competition,” Millar said in a Hockey Canada release. “We know this group is excited for the opportunity to compete for a gold medal and represent Canada with pride in Switzerland.”
The 22-man roster, which includes three goalies, seven defencemen and 12 forwards, has eight veterans from the Canadian squad that won gold last summer at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, including Bjarnason. The big netminder appeared in one game at the tournament, allowing one goal on 20 shots as Canada beat Slovakia 9-1.
The other WHL players who made the team are forwards Tanner Howe of Prince Albert, Sask. (Regina); Ty Halaburda of Victoria, B.C. (Vancouver); Berkly Catton of Saskatoon, Sask. (Spokane) and Andrew Cristall of Burnaby, B.C. (Kelowna) along with defencemen Lukas Dragicevic of Richmond, B.C. (Tri-City); Caden Price of Saskatoon, Sask. (Kelowna) and Carter Yakemchuk of Calgary, Alta. (Calgary).
The other goalies are Gabriel D’Aigle of Sorel-Tracy, Que. (Victoriaville, QMJHL) and Joey Costanzo of Toronto (Windsor, OHL).
The non-WHL forwards are Colby Barlow of Orillia, Ont. (Owen Sound, OHL); Nick Lardis of Oakville, Ont. (Hamilton, OHL); Macklin Celebrini of Vancouver (Chicago, USHL); Angus MacDonell of Toronto (Mississauga, OHL); Calum Ritchie of Oakville, Ont. (Oshawa, OHL); Porter Martone of Peterborough, Ont. (Mississauga, OHL); Matthew Wood of Nanaimo, B.C. (University of Connecticut, NCAA) and Alex Pharand of Sudbury, Ont. (Sudbury, OHL)
The other defencemen are Andrew Gibson of LaSalle, Ont. (Sault Ste. Marie, OHL); Cameron Allen of Toronto (Guelph, OHL); Quinton Burns of Smiths Falls, Ont. (Kingston, OHL) and Tristan Bertucci of Vaughan, Ont. (Flint, OHL).
Last year, Canada was knocked out of the event by Finland in the quarterfinals. Three players are back from that team, Howe, Wood and Dragicevic.
The club’s head coach is Jeff Truitt of the Prince Albert Raiders, while John Dean of the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Bruce Richardson of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada serve as assistants.
Canada plays Sweden on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. (CDT), Germany on Friday at 7:30 a.m., Slovakia on Sunday at 6 a.m., and Czechia on Tuesday, April 25 at 11:30 a.m.
The playoffs begin on Thursday, April 27, with the final set for noon on Sunday, April 30.
» pbergson@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @PerryBergson