Courtesy of Hockey Canada
A Canadian three-peat and a 25th medal added to the collection for Canada U18’s at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Team Canada, captained by defenceman Matthew Schaefer, beat Czechia 2-1 on Saturday, August 10th at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
The tournament consisted of eight countries from across Europe and North America. The United States, Germany, Czechia, Finland in one group and Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, and Slovakia in another. Canada went undefeated in their group, beating Switzerland 10-0, Slovakia 5-2, and Sweden 2-1.
Courtesy of Hlinka Gretzky Cup
The US lost their first group stage game to Czechia but won their other two games. Switzerland was unable to get a win during their tournament, finishing last after losing to Finland in the 7th place game.
Sweden won two of their group games but fell short to Canada to finish second in the group. The semi-finals took place on Friday and featured Sweden vs Czechia and Canada vs US. Czechia won 5-1 and Canada beat their rivals 5-1.
Courtesy of Hockey Canada
The final brought a good game of hockey to all those in Rogers Place. Goals in the first period for Canada by Liam Kilfoil and Caleb Desnoyers sealed the victory even with a Czech goal by Tomas Poletin in the last 10 seconds of the game. Canadian goaltender Jack Ivankovic and Czech defenceman Radim Mrtka were named players of the game.
Courtesy of Hlinka Gretzky Cup
The bronze medal match brought goals galore with Sweden beating the USA 6-3. Eric Nilsson scored a hat-trick for Sweden to help secure a medal.
While the tournament is mostly put on for NHL scouts, as this coming year is a lot of these players' draft years, it is still a great opportunity for people to get a look at some skilled young players from around the world. From Canada, players such as Schaefer, Gavin McKenna, Cameron Schmidt, and goaltender Jack Ivankovic were stand out players. From Czechia, Adam Benák, Mrtka, and goaltender Ondrej Stebetak stood out. Swedish goaltender Love Härenstam, American Matthew Lansing, and Slovakian Jan Chovan are players to keep an eye on during the season as well.
Edited by Giana Robertaccio
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