Home, Sweet Home!
They say good things come in threes—and the Canadian Men’s U18 program may find it hard to disagree.
Team Canada finished a perfect 5-0 at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton, Alberta this week—earning its third-consecutive gold medal at the tournament, winning the final 2-1.
The Canadians saw a couple familiar foes on their journey to gold, beating the United States 5-1 in the semi-final to clinch a berth in the gold medal game against Czechia.
In a rematch of last year’s gold medal game in Břeclav, Canada and Czechia both entered Saturday’s game undefeated, with identical 4-0 records.
The Czechians fought their way through USA, Germany, and Finland in the preliminary round before besting Sweden 5-1 in their semi-final.
Czechia was led by assistant captain Adam Benak of the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms—who finished second in tournament scoring with four goals and 11 points.
First Period
After Canadian goaltender Jack Ivankovic stood on his head to deny Czechia an early lead, it was Canada who struck first when Brady Martin shoveled a rebound to a wide-open Liam Kilfoil for a tap-in.
Later in the period, Czechia’s Benak was centimetres from equalizing the game, ripping a shot off the crossbar on a powerplay.
Following another missed Czech opportunity, the Canadians capitalized again in the final minute of the first period, when Caleb Desnoyers joined Cameron Schmidt on a rush, driving the net and directing Schmidt’s centering feed past Czechia goaltender Ondrej Stebetak.
Second Period
The second period belonged to the goaltenders, as Ivankovic and Stebetak both shut the door on dangerous scoring chances from each side. The Canadians killed penalties from Jackson Smith and Luca Romano to maintain a two-goal lead entering the third period.
Third Period
The final stanza saw multiple power plays for either side as the Canadians took three minors to Czechia’s two.
Despite the penalties, it was an even strength chance for the Canadians that nearly put the game out of reach when Jake O’Brien struck the right post on a point-blank opportunity in the slot with 5:58 to play.
Finally, Czechia struck with just nine seconds remaining on a goal from Tomas Poletin—but it was too little, too late for the Czechians, who had to watch the Canadians hoist the Hlinka Gretzky Cup from the opposite blue line for the second-straight year.
Red, White, and Gold
Team Canada left no doubt on home turf, going 5-0 and outscoring its opponents 25-4 in the process.
Ivankovic was impressive to say the least, surrendering just three goals in four starts in the tournament. He finished with a goals against average of 0.75 and a .967 save per centage—both tournament leaders. Ivankovic spent last season with the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads, going 14-5-4 in 23 regular season starts, with a save percentage of .915.
Cole Reschny of Victoria (WHL) and Émile Guité of Chicoutimi (QMJHL) led Canada in scoring, tallying three goals and four assists each. Reschny scored 59 points in 61 games with the Royals last season, while Guité finished with 57 points in 61 with the Saguenéenes.
Winnipeg’s Peyton Kettles represented Team Canada at the tournament. The defenceman tallied one goal against Switzerland in the tournament opener and finished with no penalty minutes. The Swift Current Bronco was an RHA Winnipeg product before his time in the WHL.
Team Canada’s U18 men’s program remains perfect on home ice, winning gold in Nelson, BC. in 1996 and Edmonton, AB. in 2018 and 2024.
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