The Czech Ice Hockey Association and Hockey Slovakia jointly announced this week the schedule for the 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup – an annual summer tournament for players entering their final U18 season.

As was announced in January, Brno replaces Břeclav as the Czech host city. Břeclav, a town of 25,000 in the southeastern corner of the country near the borders with Austria and Slovakia, first hosted the tournament in 2002, but its arena has become increasingly outdated and unsuitable, particularly when hot, humid August weather creates fog and deteriorates the ice quality.

Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic with a population of 400,000, is located 50 km north of Břeclav. Třencín, which returns as Slovak host city after first hosting in 2023, is located 150 km east of Brno. The two cities are connected by a highway.

Games in Brno will be played at Winning Group Arena, home of Czech Extraliga champion Kometa Brno, which opened in 1982 and has a capacity of 7,700. Games in Trenčín will be played at Pavol Demitra Arena, home of Slovak Extraliga club Dukla Trenčín, which opened in 1960 and has a capacity of 6,150.

According to that announcement in January, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup will return to Canada in 2026 but that might be for the last time. From 2027 onward, it would return to being hosted exclusively by Czechia and Slovakia.

Changes Coming To Hlinka Gretzky Cup; 2026 Might Be Last In Canada For the past several years, the annual summer U-18 international tournament currently known as the Hlinka Gretzky Cup has moved back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean – hosted by Canada one year and co-hosted by Czechia and Slovakia the next – but that arrangement will probably soon end.

Below are this year’s group distributions and schedule. Times are listed in Central European Summer Time and Eastern Daylight Time. More pre-tournament games might be added to this schedule as they become known.

Group A (Brno): Canada, Czechia, Finland, Switzerland

Group B (Trenčín): Germany, Slovakia, Sweden, USA

Saturday, Aug. 9 (pre-tournament):
Sweden 4 – 8 Finland  (Piešťany), 11:00 / 5:00 AM
Czechia 3 – 4 USA (Brno), 17:00 / 11:00 AM
Slovakia 0 – 7 Canada (Piešťany), 18:00 / 12:00 PM

Monday, Aug. 11  – RECAP:
Canada 5 – 3 Finland (A, Brno), 15:30 / 9:30 AM
Germany 0 – 10 Sweden (B, Trenčín), 15:30 / 9:30 AM
Czechia 6 – 2 Switzerland (A, Brno), 19:00 / 1:00 PM
Slovakia 3 – 6 USA (B, Trenčín), 19:00 / 1:00 PM

Tuesday, Aug. 12 – RECAP:
Switzerland 1 – 9 Canada (A, Brno), 15:30 / 9:30 AM
Sweden 5 – 3 USA (B, Trenčín), 15:30 / 9:30 AM
Czechia 1 – 4 Finland (A, Brno), 19:00 / 1:00 PM
Slovakia 1 – 0 Germany (B, Trenčín), 19:00 / 1:00 PM

Wednesday, Aug. 13  – RECAP:
Finland 3 – 4 Switzerland (A, Brno), 15:30 / 9:30 AM
USA 8 – 1 Germany (B, Trenčín), 15:30 / 9:30 AM
Slovakia 0 – 7 Sweden (B, Trenčín), 19:00 / 1:00 PM
Czechia 0 – 5 Canada (A, Brno), 20:00 / 2:00 PM

Friday, Aug. 15  – RECAP:
Game for 5th/6th places: Czechia 5 – 2 Slovakia (Brno), 15:30 / 9:30 AM
Game for 7th/8th places: Switzerland 5 – 2 Germany (Trenčín), 15:30 / 9:30 AM
Semifinal: Canada 3 – 4 USA (Brno), 19:00 / 1:00 PM
Semifinal: Sweden 6 – 5 Finland (Trenčín), 19:00 / 1:00 PM  

Saturday, Aug. 16 – RECAP:
Game for 3rd/4th places: Canada 3 – 0 Finland (Brno), 17:00 / 11:00 AM
Final: Sweden 3 – 5 USA (Trenčín), 17:00 / 11:00 AM

Photo © OIS/Joel Marklund-Imagn Images.

Rosters announced so far:

Canada’s 25-Man Roster For 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup The perennial powerhouse of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Canada will once again bring a formidable roster to the 2025 edition of the annual U-18 summer tournament, which runs Aug. 11 to 16 in Brno, Czechia and Trenčín, Slovakia.

Czechs Reveal 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup Roster The Czech Ice Hockey Association announced on Monday its roster for this year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which runs Aug. 9 to 14 in Brno, Czechia and Trenčín, Slovakia. The Czechs have lost in the final to Canada in each of the past two years.

Finland’s Roster For 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup Finland’s roster for this summer’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup does not feature any returnees from last year’s team but two defensemen played at the IIHF U-18 World Championships: Juho Piiparinen and Samu Alalauri. As well, Max Laatikainen played some games with the U-18 national team last season.

13 Foreign-Based Players on Slovakia’s 25-Man Hlinka Gretzky Cup Roster On the morning following the team’s 7-0 pre-tournament loss to Canada, the Slovak national U-18 team announced its roster for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which starts on Monday.

Sweden Announces Solid Hlinka Gretzky Cup Roster Following a four-day training camp, Sweden announced its roster for the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup on Friday.

Switzerland Announces 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup Roster Switzerland announced its roster for the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup on Tuesday.

USA Announces 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup Roster On Saturday, the USA announced the 23-man roster that it will take to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which runs this year from Aug. 11 to 16 in Brno, Czechia and Trenčín, Slovakia.