Steelheads’ Ivankovic continues to amaze between the pipes for CanadaBy Matt Tidcombe/CHL
Brampton’s Jack Ivankovic has made many big saves already for Canada in the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup so when he needed some assistance, his defence stepped up.
After Ivankovic brilliantly denied Viggo Bjorck twice against Sweden Wednesday in the second period, he then found Arvid Drott who had a sure goal in front of him before Guelph’s Quinn Beauchesne miraculously blocked his shot. Ivankovic would put a bow on the sequence with a third save as Canada preserved it’s 1-0 lead in what was a 2-1 victory.
“I have to get him whatever he wants now,” Ivankovic said of Beauchesne. “That was a pretty cool block by him. In the scramble there, I just tried to stay as big as I can and know the ‘D’ are going to be there for me if I need them.”
In two starts in the round-robin, Ivankovic has stopped 43 of the 44 shots he has faced while he began the tournament with a 113:05 shutout streak.
“He was unreal for us,” Calgary’s Benjamin Kindel said. “He’s a brick wall in the net.”
“He’s exceptional every single game,” Chicoutimi’s Alex Huang said of the Steelheads goaltender earlier in the week. “He’s a wall for us and we try to do our best to make the job easier for him but we know that in the most important moments he’s going to step up for us.”
In what’s been a near perfect start for the 17-year-old, he’s quick to push praise to the seven defencemen in front of him.
“I feel good but the team in front of me is making it super easy to play the game,” he said. “I give most of the credit to them.”
The Mississauga, ON., native had a memorable rookie OHL season where he went 14-5-4 with a .915 save percentage and 2.72 GAA. The seventh overall pick in the 2023 OHL Draft was also selected to the OHL’s All-Rookie Second Team.
His second OHL season will see him return to form a formidable tandem with Ryerson Leenders (BUF). Among qualified goaltenders, Leenders led the OHL with a .909 save percentage in 2023-24 and subsequently heard his name called at the 2024 NHL Draft.
With Ivankovic draft eligible this year, he hopes to follow in his teammate’s footsteps.
“He’s meant a lot,” Ivankovic said of Leenders. “I’ve bonded with him over this last year pretty closely so he’s definitely helped me along the way to make me work hard and get better.”
The 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup marks Ivankovic’s third international tournament in the past 12 months; he already owns a gold medal from the 2023 World U-17 Hockey Challenge and 2024 U18 World Championships and alongside Erie’s Matthew Schaefer and Moncton’s Caleb Desnoyers is looking for an international three-peat.
“Every time you wear the Maple Leaf it’s an honour,” Ivankovic said. “Getting to wear it again here and represent my country is pretty special.”
In November, the CHL USA Prospects Challenge presented by Kubota Canada will take place where the top first-year NHL Draft-eligible prospects from the CHL’s three member leagues will face off against the USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (NTDP) in a two-game series. More details will be made available soon.
