2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup will be in Břeclav and Trenčín

The annual summer youth tournament will be played for the 32nd time this year. Playing in the Břeclav Group will be the U18 national teams of co-host Czechia along with Sweden, Germany and the USA. At the same time, the Trenčín Group will consist of co-host Slovakia, Switzerland, Finland and Canada.

The Czech national U18 team will play an exhibition game against Canada in Břeclav before the start of the tournament itself. Coach David Cermák´s young men will open the Hlinka Gretzky Cup on Monday, 31 July against the Americans, followed by the Germans and Swedes on Tuesday and Wednesday. The tournament will follow its established format, with the best two teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals and medal games, while the third and fourth teams advance to games for 5th and 7th place. The final and the bronze-medal match are scheduled for Saturday, 5 August 5.

The second-most prestigious international tournament for hockey players of this age category after the U18 World Championship, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup has followed previous summer tournaments held in some form since 1991, with early editions called the Pacific Cup or Junior World Cup. Since 1997, the tournament has been held in Czechia and Slovakia; since 2004, it has been named after Ivan Hlinka. In 2018, the name of the most famous hockey player on the planet, Wayne Gretzky, was added to the title, with Czechia, Slovakia and Canada alternating hosting duties until 2024.

Břeclav is one of the traditional host cities of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, while the Slovak city of Trenčín will host for the very first time. “We appreciate the fact that we can co-organize this tournament on Czech territory, and it is a great commitment for us, the prestige it has built up all over the world over the years,” says Jan Černý, general secretary of the Czech Ice Hockey Association. “According to the agreement with Hockey Canada, one more edition of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup will take place next year in Canada. After that, we have to sit down together with all the participating federations at the same table and evaluate how to proceed further, and whether the alternation of hosting every other year with North America brought the originally expected effect,” he added.

The most frequent winner of the tournament is Canada (23 titles), while Russia has won five times, and Czechia, Sweden and the USA once each. The Czech U18 team, which won the tournament in 2016, has also taken second place eight times (1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2014, 2017) and third place four times (1999, 2000, 2003, 2013). The defending champions from the last year, which took place in Red Deer, Canada, are the Canadians. The Czechs finished fourth at last year´s Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

Fans can find more information on the tournament´s official website http://hlinkagretzkycup.cz.

Pre-tournament games:

Saturday, 29 July 2023
18:30 Czechia vs Canada (Břeclav)
17:00 Slovakia vs USA (Trenčín)

2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup schedule:

Monday, 31 July 2023
15:30 Sweden vs Germany (Břeclav)
15:30 Canada vs Finland (Trenčín)
19:00 Czechia vs USA (Břeclav)
19:00 Slovakia vs Switzerland (Trenčín)

Tuesday, 1 August 2023
15:30 USA vs Sweden (Břeclav)
15:30 Finland vs Switzerland (Trenčín)
19:00 Czechia vs Germany (Břeclav)
19:00 Slovakia vs Canada (Trenčín)

Wednesday, 2 August 2023
15:30 Germany vs USA (Břeclav)
15:30 Switzerland vs Canada (Trenčín)
19:00 Czechia vs Sweden (Břeclav)
19:00 Slovakia vs Finland (Trenčín)

Friday, 4 August 2023
15:30 game for 5./7. place (Břeclav)
15:30 game for 5./7. place (Trenčín)
19:00 1. semi-final (Břeclav)
19:00 2. semi-final (Trenčín)

Saturday, 5 August 2023
17:00 final / game for 3rd place (Břeclav)
17:00 final / game for 3rd place (Trenčín)