George helps lead Canada to U18 hockey gold

ESPOO, Finland – Thunder Bay’s Carter George faced a 19-shot barrage in the second period and stood his ground, helping propel Team Canada to a come-from-behind win in the gold medal game at the Under 18 World Hockey Championship.

George made 31 saves in the game and was named the tournament’s top goaltender, helping Canada down the United States 6-4 on Sunday to capture the country’s first U18 title since 2021.

Gavin McKenna, widely considered the favourite to be taken first overall in the 2025 National Hockey League draft, scored three times to lead the Canadians, who trailed 1-0 after one and 3-2 after two, to victory.

George, a near lock to hear his name called during this year’s NHL draft, was at his tournament best in the finale, stopping Cole Hutson and Max Plante on first-period breakaways and robbed Hagen with a spectacular stick save in the final five minutes of the second.

The turning point for Canada came in the third, when American forward Trevor Connelly was ejected from the game for a check to the head of Canadian Ryder Ritchie, the son of former NHL journeyman Byron Ritchie.

Canada was given a five-minute power-play and they made the most of it.

McKenna tied the game at 10:25 of the third and took a 4-3 lead at the 13:40 mark on a Cole Beaudoin tally. Taj Igina, son of hall-of-famer Jarome Iginla, scored what proved to be the game winner 39 seconds later, with seven seconds to go in the major.

Brodie Ziemer cut the Canada lead to 5-4, beating George with 4:24 left in regulation, but the undefeated U.S. side was unable to pot the equalizer. McKenna iced it with 1:18 to go, George drawing an assist on the empty-net tally.

George, who toils for the Ontario Hockey League’s Owen Sound Attack, finished the tournament with a 2.33 goals against average and a .915 save percentage, leading Canada to an undefeated record.

American goaltender Nicholas Kempf made 19 saves to take the loss in net for the U.S., led offensively by Cole Huston and his goal and two assists. Cole Eiserman and Christian Humphries also scored for the Americans.