Malcolm Subban named Canada's starting goalie at world juniors

Malcolm Subban has been handed the starting reins in net when Team Canada opens the World Junior Hockey Championship on Boxing Day in Ufa, Russia.

Hockey Canada announced on its Twitter account Tuesday the Belleville Bulls goaltender would be between the pipes as the Canadians square off with Team Germany in their first game of the tournament, while Owen Sound Attack goalie Jordan Binnington will back him up.

Subban, the younger brother of Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban, is a six-foot-two, 201-pound native of Toronto. He was in net for Canada in this year's summer series against the Russians, going 2-0 in the four-game set.

He's got a sparkling 2.17 goals-against average and .932 save percentage with the Bulls this year with a 15-7-3 record. The 19-year-old stopped 19 shots in Canada's 3-2 exhibition loss to Finland Thursday.

Saginaw Spirit netminder Jake Paterson is the team's alternate goalie.

Canada's path to a gold medal won't be easy, though. The Canadians are in a group with four other countries, including two gold-medal contenders in Russia and the United States, and they haven't won gold since 2009 in Ottawa.

They'll also have to overcome adversity as centre Boone Jenner was given a three-game suspension Monday by the International Ice Hockey Federation. He was punished for a late hit that left Swedish defenceman Jesper Pettersson with a fractured wrist and dislocated shoulder.

Jenner may not be the only player missing for Canada as winger Jonathan Drouin sustained what the team is calling a mild charleyhorse in Tuesday's practice. He was left off Canada's roster of players registered to keep a spot open should another replacement be needed.

"@HockeyCanada has 1 open spot on roster & can register a player until 2 hours before a game for him to be eligible to play in that game." the team posted to Twitter.

The Canucks' next game after Wednesday is Friday versus Slovakia.