Team Canada goaltender Zach Fucale makes a save during a practice session in Montreal, Thursday, December 25, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
December 25, 2014 - 3:27 PM
TORONTO - Goaltender Zachary Fucale will get the nod in goal on Friday when Canada opens up the world junior championships against Slovakia in Montreal.
Coach Benoit Groulx announced on Thursday that the 19-year-old will start over Eric Comrie in Canada's first game of preliminary play, but wouldn't go as far to say that Fucale is the clear-cut No. 1.
At last year's world championship in Malmo, Sweden, Jake Paterson was put in net in Canada's first two round-robin games by coach Brent Sutter. A 5-4 shootout loss to the Czech Republic cost Paterson his job. Fucale played the rest of the way and went 3-2-0 with a 2.42 goals-against average and .902 save percentage.
Fucale, from Rosemere, Que., has a 13-9-2 with a 3.20 GAA and .890 save percentage for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Halifax Mooseheads in 24 games this season.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014