Who’s No 1? Carter George, Carson Bjarnason, Jack Ivankovic?

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Carter George had a leg up in the battle for the blue paint between Canada’s pipes heading into Saturday’s second, pre-world junior hockey championship game against Sweden.

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That wouldn’t have changed in a 4-2 come-from-behind Canadian victory at a jammed-packed TD Place, where the 18-year-old Thunder Bay product watched in his civvies.

Selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of last June’s National Hockey League draft, the Owen Sound Attack netminder blocked all 11 shots he faced while playing the first half of Canada’s first tune-up against Switzerland on Thursday.

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The other two goalies on the team are 19-year-old Brandon Wheat King Carson Bjarnason, a second-round pick of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers in 2023, and 17-year-old Brampton Steelheads puckstopper Jack Ivankovic, who TSN’s Craig Button projects to be taken in the second round of next June’s draft.

The lone ‘tender who failed to survive final cuts at last week’s selection camp was the Seattle Thunderbirds’ Scott Ratzlaff, a 19-year-old Buffalo Sabres fifth-rounder who was on Canada’s team last year, but didn’t play.

“I really like the group,” Peter Anholt, a member of the team’s management group, said heading into the Sweden exhibition. “It really says a lot about where Canada’s at right now, at least at this level with this group.”

Asked who had the edge on the No. 1 job, Anholt said: “I think George is starting to emerge, which I think is good. He’s just really steady, sticky … there’s no garbage. The puck sticks to him. To me, it looks like he’s emerging a little bit.”

Canada outshot the Swedes 44-24 on Saturday, with Ivankovic playing the first two periods and Bjarnason taking over for the third.

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After Canada opened the scoring on a deflection by Ottawa 67’s captain Luca Pinelli, it looked as if the home team would head to the intermission with the lead until Sweden’s Felix Unger Sorum scored off a scramble with a fraction of a second left in the period.

Sweden went up 2-1 five minutes into the second period with a wrist shot from the point that beat a screened Ivankovic on the stick side.

The shot clock following 40 minutes showed Canada up 27-18 thanks to a 15-7 gap in the second period.

Oliver Bonk tied the score just past the midway mark of the final final frame with a slapshot from the point that went under the catching mitt of goalie Melker Thelin.

Calum Ritchie, who also had two assists, scored the winner with 3:36 left in the third on a slap shot from inside the blue-line, the puck deflecting off a Swedish defender and dipping under Thelin’s glove.

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan scored his fourth in two games on a shot from the high slot with 1:35 to go.

George, a 6-1, 190-pounder, is regarded as an exceptional puck handler good who is confident and doesn’t panic when pressured.

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“I really think he’s special,” Anholt said. “I think he’s one of those guys that just works at his trade. You see him do the off-ice work. It’s not by luck that he’s good.”

At 6-3, 210 pounds, Bjarnason is the biggest of the three goalies on Canada’s roster.

His strength, however, is on low shots, as he’s consistently taking away the bottom of the net with his quick feet and legs.

The Switzerland game was not a shining moment for him, however.

Playing the second half, he saw just four shots, and he allowed a goal after giving the puck away.

Bjarnason, who stopped all six Swedish shots he faced, has worn the Maple Leaf on numerous times and is entrenched in the Hockey Canada program

“From what I’ve seen, he’s matured over the years,” Anholt said. “We’ve watched him in Brandon so closely. He’s turned into a man. He’s turned into a pro.”

Bjarnason has learned how to do that from the Flyers, for whom he has played in pre-season games over the past two training camps.

Naturally, he’d like to take over the crease in his last opportunity to represent Canada as a junior.

“No matter the politics or whatever goes into it, you just try to give yourself the best chance to play,” Bjarnason said. “That’s what I think I’m doing. I feel like my practice has been pretty good. Just trying to take it day by day and give myself the best chance to play.”

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He does wish he would have seen more action against in the first tune-up game.

“Definitely. I like being busy,” Bjarnason said. “I practise my best when I’m really going and there’s no, no stoppages in drills, when I’m always kind of moving. Come game time, in Brandon, I feel like I see a good amount of action. It’s something I really take pride in, being able to last in those long spots in the zone. It’s something I enjoy. I love taking shots.”

George is likely to play at least two periods, if not the entire game, when Canada concludes its pre-competition schedule against the Czechs at Canadian Tire Centre on Monday

“It kind of meant the world to me to be able to get that first start for us,” said George, who has no fear of playing on the big stage of a global tournament. “I don’t really see it as high-pressure. I mean, I’m just here to play. Hockey is a game. I mean, you’re here in Canada, obviously, it means a little bit more, but, at the end of the day, you’ve just got to stop pucks for the team.”

George says his game has progressed this season with the help of the coaching staff in Owen Sound and his experience at Kings training camp.

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“When I was up in L.A. Darcy Kuemper was phenomenal with me,” he said of the Kings’ veteran ‘tender. “I asked him any question, he was always open and honest with me, and gave me great advice. So I definitely have to thank him for that.

“He’s played in a couple of these events, too, so it’s always nice to ask guy about his experiences and see what he has to say.”

Meanwhile, Ivankovic is a Canadian goalie to watch going forward.

The son of Frank Ivankovic, a 6-5 goalie who spent most of his OHL career with the Oshawa Generals and was a ninth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995, Jack is one of four players on the Canadian roster awaiting his draft year.

The other two are winger Porter Martone and defenceman Matthew Schaefer, who are both projected to be top-five picks in next June’s draft, and Grant McKenna, who turned 17 on Friday and is the early consensus to go first overall in 2026.

“We can play for another two years after this,” Ivankovic said of he and his fellow 17-year-old Canadians. “That’s pretty special, kind of being with them all the time.”

Not that he waved the white flag in the battle for the top role this year.

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“I think anytime you make a team you want to be the guy, you want to be the number one,” the 5-11, 178-pounder said. “So that’s kind of my, my plan going forward here.

“I’ve kind of just been pretty calm guy all the way growing up,” Ivankovic replied when asked how he handles the pressure of the position. “Talking to my dad about all the do’s and don’ts all the kind of little stuff, and just kind of staying away from the rink (on off days), not being too focused on one thing is, definitely big.”

Said Anholt: “Ivankovic is also a special player. He’s got such good hockey sense, where he reads play so quickly that he makes big saves, he makes them look easy. He’s there before the shots.”

AROUND THE WORLDS: Berkly Catton was named Canada’s player of the game on Saturday … Also scratched for Canada on Saturday were forward Porter Martone and defenceman Sawyer Mynio.

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