Michkov, Livanavage, and many home players. Who is worth watching at this year´s Hlinka Gretzky Cup?

A very strong team for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup is traditionally brought by Canada. However, the 2019 finalist is not participating this year due to a pandemic, and we must look for talents in other teams.

For example, in the Russian one, which won a gold medal in 2019. It will be led by a potential number one in the 2023 draft, Matvej Mičkov. As one of the youngest players in the spring Under-18 World Championships, he won the productivity, scoring twelve goals in seven games and adding four assists. He deservedly received the award for the MVP of the championship.

However, another two of his teammates presented themselves well at the U18 World Championships. Ivan Mirošničenko scored eight points in seven matches, and his partner from the offensive formation Ilya Kvočko perfectly complemented the cooperation of three talented players.

Home teams have quality for medals

Similarly, Slovakia has three great talents in its team. Šimon Nemec, Juraj Slafkovský and Filip Mešár are the only hockey players in the tournament with experience in the Junior World Championships, seventeen-year-old Nemec and Slafkovskýeven played in the recent senior championship in Riga and scouts see them in the top ten of the next NHL draft.

At the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the attention of the scouts will be attracted also by the Czechs. For example, the captain of the team Jiří Kulich. He is a junior player of Chomutov, who received space in Kadaň (Chance Liga – second highest senior league) and Karlovy Vary (Czech Extraliga).

And as one of the three players of the Czech team, he also participated in the spring U18 World Championships. The other two hockey players with such experience are Šimon Slavíček (Slavia Prague, Chance Liga) and Matyáš Šapovaliv (so far Kladno, Chance Liga). Fifteen-year-old Adam Jecho, who scored 19 points in 8 matches in the Tappara Tampere junior, can be significant both by hockey talent and the year of birth.

Will the talents of hockey superpowers confirm their reputation?

Finland´s most promising hope is forward Joakim Kemell. He scored three times at the U18 championship and made his debut in the senior Liiga, where he scored on his first and only start.

Among the Swedes, the greatest talent is the defender Mattias Hävelid, whose father Niclas played for Anaheim or Atlanta and won gold from the World Cup and the Olympics. The son is going in his footsteps, scoring four points in seven matches at the U18 World Championships, even though he was an underage player.

The USA, on the other hand, does not send its elite selection from the development program to Piešťany, but a kind of B-team selected from a large summer camp. However, eight Americans are already committed to the university. And talents Jake Livanavage, Vinny Borgesi, and Quinn Finley played in the USHL against even four years older opponents.

No wonder the August tournament is closely watched by the NHL scouts...

PHOTO: HockeySlovakia