Ben Gaudreau seems to be the man now in goal for Team Canada as he got the nod in yesterday's semi-final contest for the National Under-18 team as they faced Team Sweden in the semi-finals of the IIHF World Under-18 Championships taking place in Texas.
The Corbeil product made a couple of key saves at the end of the first period as the game finished 0-0 after 20 minutes of play.
With the score only 2-1 for the Canadians after 40 minutes, Team Canada exploded for six goals in the third period en route to a convincing 8-1 win over Sweden to send Canada to the Gold Medal final Thursday night. You can watch the game at 9 p.m. on TSN
The North Bay AAA Trappers alum was next to perfect on this night only getting beaten on a 5 on 3 power play in the middle frame.
He finished with 16 saves for his fourth win between the pipes for Team Canada in Texas including 29 saves in a 10-3 win in the quarterfinal versus the Czech Republic on Monday.
While Gaudreau was unable to play this season due to the OHL season cancellation, he is making an impression this week at the international tournament.
"He would have been in the first round conversation had the OHL season gone on as normal," one NHL scout told The Hockey News/SI.com.
"He's got poise, the size, the speed and the ability to read plays that makes him an NHL-caliber goaltender.
"Ben Gaudreau has been a great goalie and we are lucky to have him between the pipes for us," Team Canada teammate and young phenom Connor Bedard told The Hockey News/SI.com about Gaudreau.
Team Canada will face Russia in the gold medal game tonight. It is not known at publication time if Gaudreau will get the start in tonight's championship contest.
See the full feature on Benjamin Gaudreau in The Hockey News/SI.com HERE
