Hlinka Gretzky Cup 2023 Dates and Roster

Hlinka Gretzky Cup is an international tournament for players under 18 years of age. It is administered by the three hockey foundations.

They include Hockey Canada, Czech Ice Hockey Association, and Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. The tournament was formerly known as Phoenix Cup, Nations Cup, U-18 Junior World Cup, and Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.

Participating teams in 2023 are:

• Canada
• Russia
• United States
• Czech Republic
• Sweden
• Finland
• Slovakia
• Switzerland

Japan hosted the inaugural tournament in 1991, where the Soviet Union walked away with the gold following a victory over Canada in the final.

However, Canada has won the tournament most times. In the last 31 seasons, Canada has clinched the championship title whopping 23 times.

The tournament was renamed Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2018. It provides a ground-breaking opportunity for NHL prospects to show their skills and strength.

17 players from the winning team of Canada were drafted by the NHL in 2018. Moreover, Canada is the recent winner of the championship.

The United States has the most silver medals in the tournament. They received their last gold in 2003, silver in 2016, and bronze in 2018.

Hlinka Gretzky Cup schedule 2023 has the tournament running from 29 July to 5 August. Slovakia and USA will compete in the opening game.

The season will begin with an exhibition aka pre-tournament games. Besides Slovakia and USA, the Czech Republic and Canada will also play against each other.

The group stage or the regular season games of the tournament will begin on 31 July. The first matchups will be played between Canada and Finland and Sweden and Germany.

There will be a total of 12 games from 31 July to 2 August. The teams with the highest record will automatically qualify for the playoff round.

The semifinals of the postseason matches will be held on 4 August at the Pavol Demitra Ice Hockey Stadium and FOSFA Arena Breclav. Likewise, the third-place game will be organized by Slovakia on 5 August.

The championship game will also be organized on the same day in Czechia. All of the games except for the pre-tournament ones are broadcasted by the NHL Network.

Full schedule of the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup

Hlinka Gretzky Cup rosters submission deadline was on 15 July 2023. All the eight participating teams have already revealed their players list.

The roster of the tournament should not exceed 25 players. The teams can have twenty-three skaters (defensemen and forwards) and at least two netminders.

The winners of the game will secure 3 points and the loser will not receive any points. In case of a tie, each team will get one point and the game will proceed to overtime.

Hlinka Gretzky Cup 2023 Canada Roster

Canada roster for the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup consists of 24 players. It contains three goaltenders, seven defensemen, and fourteen forwards.

The names of the players competing in the forthcoming tournament are:

• Maxim Masse
• Malcolm Spence
• Justin Poirier
• Roger McQueen
• Berkly Catton
• Jordan Gavin
• Ryder Ritchie
• Cole Beaudoin
• Ollie Josephson
• Porter Martone
• Lian Greentree
• Michael Misa
• Carson Wetsch
• Cayden Lindstrom
• Sam Dickinson
• Ben Danford
• Frankie Marrelli
• Anthony Cristoforo
• Charlie Elick
• Henry Mews
• Zayne Parekh
• Ryerson Leenders
• Gabriel D'Aigle
• Carter George

Hlinka Gretzky Cup USA Roster

The USA roster for the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup includes 23 players. 13 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 3 goalies are selected in the U-18 roster.

The players who will represent the USA in the tournament are:

• Eero Butella
• Trevor Connelly
• Colin Frank
• Callum Hughes
• Ryker Lee
• John McNelis
• JJ Monteiro
• Aidan Park
• AJ Spellacy
• Chase Stefanek
• Mac Swanson
• Grant Young
• Will Zellers
• Alex Bales
• William Felicio
• Tanner Henricks
• Owen Keefe
• Adam Kleber
• Finn McLaughlin
• Tory Pitner
• Thatcher Bernstein
• Caleb Heil
• Kam Hendrickson

Hlinka Gretzky Cup score in the final match of 2022 was 4-1. With that, Canada defeated Sweden and won their 23rd title in the tournament. 

Canada earned their first championship in 1992. They also secured the title seven times in a row from 1996 to 2002 and from 2008 to 2015. 

Russia has the second-highest number of golds (5) in the tournament. They received a 7-3 win over Slovakia in the finals of the 2021 season.

The tournament was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to that, Russia took the trophy home defeating Canada by 1-0.

Russia also has the highest number of bronze in the championship. Until now, they have received four silver medals and nine bronze medals.

Canada remained victorious in the 2018 season. They defeated Sweden 6-2 overall. They were also the winners in the 2017 season securing a 4-1 overall against Czech in the finals.

Here is a list of the teams who have won the championship in the past five seasons.