USA, Canada to play for gold at 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup
I’ll be an all-North American championship game at the 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup after the United States and Canada won their semifinal games against Slovakia and Finland, respectively.
The Americans have advanced to the final in consecutive years for the first time in team history. Canada, meanwhile, has won gold 25 times and has made it to the final a previous 28 times dating back to 1991. Slovakia has won bronze twice in the past, while the Finns have managed to do so three times, with the most recent outing happening in Red Deer in 2022. The Finns have lost their last two bronze medal games, including to Canada last year. Slovakia’s last tournament medal came in 2021 – their only Hlinka medal of the 2021 Century.
The Slovaks got on the board early, with Patrik Rychlik getting his first of two on the afternoon at 3:50. The Slovaks looked good for a little bit until Gavin Burcar scored on the man advantage at 18:17 to make it a 1-1 game. The Americans never looked back from there. Nash Roed would score twice in succession early in the second before Rychlik tallied another goal, this time on the power play. Boasting a 3-2 lead heading into the third, Ethan Sung would score to put the game out of reach before Roed completed the hat-trick at 19:47, making it a 5-2 game.
In the evening affair, the Finns got off to a 1-0 lead thanks to a power-play goal from Olli Kylmälä. That came on Finland’s eighth shot of the game, with the Finns outshooting Canada 8-1 through 5:46 of play. But the Canadians wouldn’t finish the period empty-handed, with Landon DuPont blasting a shot past Samuel Heikkinen to make it 1-1. The two teams would trade goals again in the second, with Max Poikela tallying one first before Benjamin Veitch answered back at 27:06. Canada had a pair of goals reviewed in the second half, but Malik L’Italien and Jaako Wysick would end up tallying goals to make it 4-2. The Finns needed something late to get back into it, and Kylmälä would tally his second of the game with under 10 minutes to go. It wasn’t enough in the end, though, as Veitch would tally another goal and Kayden Stroeder would get one with under a second left to win the game 6-3.
Here’s a look at the top standouts from Friday night in Edmonton:
Slovakia
#7 Jakub Vasko, D (2029): At 15, Vasko is very young, but you couldn’t tell given how good he’s been. He blocked a boatload of shots while also forcing opponents to the outside with his 6-foot-4 frame. Vasko isn’t the most offensively inclined defender from what I’ve seen, but he’s defensively responsible and wants to do whatever it takes to get in the way of scoring chances. Today was a good showing for a defender who had to be busy.
#29 Patrik Rychlik, C: Rychlik played his best game of the tournament, scoring the opening goal before adding a second while shorthanded. The mid-sized forward plays with a ton of energy and loves to get into opponent’s scoring lanes to break plays up. It feels like Rychlik is always looking for gaps to bring the puck and get chances on net, and he has the footwork capable of making the most out of it.
USA
#10 Gavin Burcar, C: Burcar had a four-point effort today, helping the Americans to advance. There was a bit of everything today, from big faceoff wins, solid physical play and great heads-up passing. Burcar put up just 17 points with Spokane last year but he’s playing some excellent hockey to kick off the year. I thought he was noticeable at the USA Hockey 17 Festval last month, even though he had just one point to show for. This tournament has been excellent for his draft stock because he has proven he can do a little bit of everything. I’m excited to follow him closely this year.
#12 Colin Grubb, C: Grubb had his best game of the tournament today. He was especially good alongside Sung, with Grubb doing most of the work to retrieve pucks and get them into dangerous scoring lanes. Grubb is a hard-working, two-way forward who is better in the O zone than in his own end, but he makes up for it with the way he never stops moving. I liked his assist on the 4-2 goal, in particular.
#13 Michael Tang, RW: Tang had been a been quiet on USA’s fourth line heading into today, but he was electric in this one. He nearly scored on a great bat-in attempt early in the first and eventually did score one, only to have it taken away due to goalie interference. The Niagara IceDogs forward is very smart, often getting himself into open lanes when others seemed to struggle. He’s a good puck-handler, but his game away from the puck still needs work. This was his most noticeable game to date, though, and hopefully the start of something bigger in the final.
#17 Nash Roed, LW (2028): Roed had a three-goal game today, becoming the second American behind Burcar to snag a hat-trick this week. Roed hadn’t scored before today, but he had some good looks, so it was nice to see him finally rewarded. He’s quick, toolsy and plays with a ton of muscle for a guy who isn’t particularly big. Even as one of the younger players on this team, his game feels mature; he might not be overly flashy, but he’s smart and does a lot of things well.
Canada 6, Finland 3
Canada
#6 Malik L’Italien, D: L’Italien had a surprisingly quiet tournament leading into today, but made up for it with a goal, and an assist and a couple of impressive hits. The 6-foot-3 defender is a terrifying human being; nobody wants to go up 1-on-1 against him. He hits hard, and he hits clean. Today, he and DuPont did an excellent job of finding each other all over the ice, with L’Italien playing a bit more free than we’ve seen out of him this week.
#9 Landon DuPont, D: This felt like DuPont’s best game defensively. He scored the first Canadian goal on an excellent release, making it 1-1. From there, he displayed great gap control to kill plays before it could get back into the D zone. There’s been a lot of interesting discourse surrounding DuPont’s game this week, to say the least. But what really stands out is his defensive reliability and willingness to get a bit more aggressive to make things happen. Today, he showed a little bit of everything.
#12 Brock Cripps, D: Cripps has had such a strong tournament. The undersized defender plays with a ton of speed and finesse, and I think he’s actually much better defensively than a lot of other smaller defensemen tend to be at this point in the development. I’m not saying Cripps is going to blow you away in his own zone, but he’s good at puck retrievals and forcing opponents to the perimeter right away so he doesn’t have to panic near the net. I liked him on the penalty kill in particular today.
#18 Benjamin Veitch, LW (2028): Veitch was huge in the team’s comeback effort. He scored the game-tying 2-2 goal in the second before nabbing a pair of assists in the third and an empty-netter for good measure. The Newfoundland native has represented his proud hockey province exceptionally well; he had a pair of goals before tonight, too. He’s a great energy forward who hits hard and attacks harder, and he’s definitely going to receive some serious love at the 2028 draft.
#21 Jaakko Wysick, LW: Wysick was everywhere today with four points. He did the hard work that resulted in the first two Canadian goals, fighting off the Finnish challengers to get the puck into scoring lanes. He’s not a big guy, but he’s so mature for his age, using his body to win battles and get the puck down the ice. Wysick also has a powerful shot, and while he hasn’t been able to use it a lot of this tournament, it feels like his playmaking has really been a bright spot in Edmonton. I think he’s going to be an interesting mid-round prospect who can play a variety of different roles.
Finland
#6 Lenni Kokkonen, D: Kokkonen had assists on each of Finland’s first two goals, and, by all accounts, has been Finland’s best player at the tournament. He plays with so much poise and is fully willing to do whatever it takes to get the puck on net. The strong, two-way defender breaks up a lot of plays, but he also does a ton of damage in tight, as well.
#12 Miska Liljeberg, C: The Ilves product hasn’t had much to show for offensively at this tournament but he does a lot well in his own zone. He wins a ton of faceoffs, and he’s easily one of Finland’s fastest skaters. Liljeberg has a good shot, but didn’t really get to unload it often today; instead, I thought he was better at finding his teammates from the perimeter.
#15 Olli Kylmälä, C: Kylmälä’s defensive play on the fourth Canadian goal let a lot to be desired. But he still scored twice, including the goal that gave Finland some much-needed life late today. Kylmälä had a productive year internationally last year and has done a solid job of chasing down rebounds and looking for passes in tight around the net. There’s some obvious skill there; he just needs to round out his two-way game if he’s going to continue at center.
#24 Luca Santala, RW: Santala is the most skilled player on this Finnish team, and today, his skating was definitely on display. He was also physically dominant when he needed to be, especially in the second period with how he continued to keep the puck in the attacking zone. Santala also had an assist, setting up Kylmala’s second of the night to make it 4-3. Santala is one of the most well-rounded European talents for the draft, finding more and more ways to keep himself involved throughout a game,