Carter George becomes 8th Kings’ alumnus to play in World Junior Hockey Championship

THUNDER BAY – With Carter George posting a shutout in his World Junior Hockey Championship debut Thursday, he became the eighth Thunder Bay Kings alumnus to play for Canada in the international event.

In Ottawa, George stopped all 31 shots he faced as part of a 4-0 victory over Finland in the opening game for both countries.

He is also the 36th former Kings’ standout to be drafted by a National Hockey League club, going in the 2nd round, 57th overall, to the Los Angles Kings in the 2024 NHL Draft.

The first Kings’ alum to play for Canada at the WJHC was Trevor Letowski, who helped them win gold at the 1997 junior worlds in Switzerland.

Letowski is also one of two Canadians to capture World Junior gold as both a player and a coach, finalizing the feat behind the bench as an assistant coach in 2018 in Buffalo, N.Y.

Meanwhile, Thunder Bay coaching icon Dave Siciliano, who guided a number of Kings’ clubs over the years, including winning an All-Ontario bantam title in 1995, served as an assistant when Canada won the championship in 1993, held in Sweden.

A trio of alumni in Marc Staal, Tom Pyatt and Ryan Parent won back-to-back WJHC gold medals with Canada in 2006 and ’07.

The following is the list of Thunder Bay Kings alums to compete in the World Junior Hockey Championship:

WJHC photo credit: Canadian Press