Milic to start for Canada against Sweden on New Year's Eve
Published
Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Thomas Milic will get the start in net for Team Canada for their important New Year's Eve clash against Sweden at the World Junior Hockey Championship, head coach Dennis Williams confirmed on Friday.
You can watch the game against Sweden LIVE from Scotiabank Arena in Halifax Saturday at 6:30pm ET/3:30pm PT on TSN 1/4/5 and stream on TSN.ca or the TSN App.
Milic, a 19-year-old native of Coquitlam, B.C., has allowed two goals on 26 shots over two games for Canada at the World Juniors. He relieved Ben Gaudreau in the opener against Czechia after Gaudreau allowed five goals on 17 shots. Milic stopped all 10 of the shots he faced as Canada dropped the game 5-2. Milic also got the start for Wednesday's rout of Germany, allowing two goals on 16 shots.
Canada went back to Gaudreau on Thursday against Austria as the third-round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks stopped 12 shots for the 11-0 shutout victory.
In his fourth season of Western Hockey League play, Milic has an 11-2-1 record with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.
Sweden's Carl Lindbolm has arguably been the best goalie so far at the World Juniors, posting a 3-0 record, highlighted by a pair of shutouts and allowing just two goals on a total of 76 shots.
The Swedes are currently leading Group A with eight points, followed by Czechia with seven and Canada with six. Germany and Austria have yet to record a point going into their last round-robin game against each other.
The top four teams in each group will advance to the quarter-finals.