Hlinka Gretzky Cup

The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is an annual international under-18 ice hockey tournament administered by Hockey Canada, the Czech Ice Hockey Association, and the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation.

Overview§

The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is an annual international under-18 ice hockey tournament administered by Hockey Canada, the Czech Ice Hockey Association, and the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. Held since 1991, it has since been contested under several titles and in several countries, including Japan, Mexico, and Canada. From 1997 through 2017, hosting duties for the event alternated between, and were later split between, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The event was known as the Nations Cup, the U-18 Junior World Cup, and Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament during this period. From 2018 through 2023, the tournament alternated between Edmonton/Red Deer, Alberta and Břeclav, Czech Republic/Piešťany, Slovakia. The event is not sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which holds its own U18 championship in April. The tournament is a prominent pre-season showcase for National Hockey League (NHL) prospects and it highlights players in the summer before their draft year. 17 players on Canada's winning team from 2017 were selected with first-round picks in the 2018 NHL entry draft in one such example.

History§

The tournament started in 1991, hosted by Japan for the first three years, along with the fifth. After which the Pacific Cup moniker was adopted (with the exception of 1994, when Mexico served as the host country and the tournament was known as La Copa Mexico), in its first year, it was known as the Phoenix Cup. In 1996, the tournament was first held in Canada. Beginning in 1997, four years after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia started alternating as hosts, and the tournament was renamed the Nations Cup. The two countries alternated until 2003, then co-hosted from 2003 through 2017. At this time, it was also renamed the U-18 Junior World Cup. In 2007, the event was renamed the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in honour of prominent Czech player and the most successful Czech national team head coach Ivan Hlinka—who had died in a vehicle accident in 2004. Hockey Canada announced that the 2018 edition would be co-hosted by Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, in association with Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) and the Czech and Slovak ice hockey federations, and that the event had been renamed the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, honouring Edmonton Oilers hall of famer Wayne Gretzky and Czech legend Ivan Hlinka in January 2018. The tournament will alternate between Edmonton/Red Deer and Břeclav/Piešťany annually through 2022. After reaching an agreement with OEG executive Bob Nicholson, the Sports Network (TSN) first televised the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2018. TSN vice-president Paul Graham envisioned a marketable hockey event in August despite low in-person attendance at the time. He felt that agreeing to televise the 2019 event in Europe was part of a process of educating Canadians around the event. The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while Canada did not participate in the 2021 tournament—with Germany replacing them. It was announced that this hosting cycle would be extended through 2023. Due to the 2022 World Junior Championships being rescheduled for August in Edmonton shortly after the event, the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup was played exclusively in Red Deer.