To lead off Day 2 of the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Canada and Sweden stayed perfect. In Brno, Canada beat Switzerland 9-1 in a game that was 1-0 after two periods and Sweden overcame a 3-1 deficit against the USA and won 5-3 in Trenčín. In the evening games, Finland beat Czechia 4-1 and Slovakia edged Germany 1-0 on a late fluky goal. Landon DuPont As a result, it looks highly probable that the semifinal matchups will be Canada against the USA in Brno and Sweden against Finland in Trenčín. That could change if Switzerland beats Finland and/or Czechia beats Canada on Wednesday by enough goals that the order of finish in the Brno group is changed on tiebreakers. Switzerland 1 – Canada 9 (0-0, 0-1, 1-8) Through two periods, the shots were 32-8 in Canada’s favor but the score remained 1-0 before the floodgates opened in the third. “It’s another good lesson for our young group,” said Canadian coach Mathieu Turcotte. “We had to stick with it and we changed a few lines. (Mathis) Preston and the Ruck twins (Liam and Markus) got things going for us and we put up eight in the third period.” With the Okanagan trio playing together, Preston scored three goals in the third period – two were assisted by Markus and one by Liam. “I think it was kind of a matter of time before we started playing together,” said Preston. “We played together at the U-17s, did pretty well there, and obviously, our whole lives we’ve been playing together growing up. They’re unreal players and I couldn’t have done it out there without them.” Canada Edges Finland, Sweden Wins Big In Hlinka Gretzky Cup Openers [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/b30daa52-aa25-4344-97a4-155c146c2af9.webp] Canada Edges Finland, Sweden Wins Big In Hlinka Gretzky Cup Openers Ethan Belchetz had three points and defensemen Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin had two points each, leading Canada to a 5-3 opening-day victory over Finland at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup’s Group A in Brno, Czechia. [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/canada-edges-finland-sweden-wins-big-in-hlinka-gretzky-cup-openers] “It’s something we put together at the U-17s,” said Turcotte, who coached the trio for the Canada White team at last year’s World Hockey Challenge. “Preston was one of the top scorers in that tournament with Markus and Liam, so we figured we’d give it a shot after two periods today. Maybe we shouldn’t have waited that long.” Yanis Lutz of the OHL [http://thn.com/ohl]’s Peterborough Petes scored the lone Swiss goal. Sweden 5 – USA 3 (0-2, 2-1, 3-0) In a game that was probably destined to decide the winner of the Trenčín group, the Americans led 2-0 after one period and 3-1 midway through the second, but the Swedes got one goal late in the middle frame and then scored three in a span of 1:26 midway through the third to match the Canadians with their second straight win. Malte Gustafsson, Elton Hermansson [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/swedish-prospect-elton-hermansson-looks-up-to-peter-forsberg-and-markus-naslund] and Marcus Nordmark had three points each for the Swedes, while goaltender Douglas Nilsson stopped 41 of 44 shots to keep his team within striking distance before the comeback. Swedish Prospect Elton Hermansson Looks Up To Peter Forsberg and Markus Näslund [https://us-central1-deweb-519a7.cloudfunctions.net/mediaService-api/videos/b22ee1de-9f4b-4490-b5f2-90b34872eec3/thumbnail] Swedish Prospect Elton Hermansson Looks Up To Peter Forsberg and Markus Näslund Elton Hermansson, a member of Sweden’s U-18 national team that is about to begin the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, scored two goals in the team’s pre-tournament game on Saturday against Finland in Piestany, Slovakia. However, that output seemed a bit lost in Sweden’s 8-4 loss. [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/swedish-prospect-elton-hermansson-looks-up-to-peter-forsberg-and-markus-naslund] Czechia 1 – Finland 4 (0-0, 0-2, 1-2) Both teams knew ahead of time that this game would probably determine second place in the Brno group and a spot in the semifinals. The Czechs outshot Finland 11-8 in the first period but nobody scored, not even Vojtěch Švancar on a penalty shot. Oscar Hemming [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/finland-s-oscar-hemming-i-have-a-better-hockey-iq-than-brother-emil] on the power play and Luka Arkko put Finland up 2-0 in the second period. Petr Tomek got Czechia on the board with 6:38 to go and it appeared that there might be a late push for the equalizer – however, less than two minutes later, Oliver Suvanto banged in a loose puck in the crease and Arkko added his second of the game into an empty net. Slovakia 1 – Germany 0 (0-0, 0-0, 1-0) For 58 minutes, goaltenders Anton Röckl and Denis Čelko were perfect. Röckl was by far the busier of the two, as Slovakia outshot Germany 46-22 on the night. At stake was third and fourth places in the group. With less than two minutes remaining in regulation time, Jakub Floris took a shop from a sharp angle that Röckl stopped, Matej Stankoven got his stick on the rebound and sent the puck through the goalcrease, where it hit the stick of German defenseman Moussa Hackert and went into the net for the game’s only goal. Finland’s Oscar Hemming: I Have ‘A Better Hockey IQ’ Than Brother Emil [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/24b2ccd7-c917-4292-b777-c0a55ec35623.webp] Finland’s Oscar Hemming: I Have ‘A Better Hockey IQ’ Than Brother Emil Last season, 16-year-old Oscar Hemming was the top scorer in Finland’s top U-18 league with 63 points in 31 games for Kiekko Espoo. He also had 19 points in 31 U-20 games. That makes him one of the most dangerous offensive players on the Finnish team at this year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup and he demonstrated that in the team’s opener against Canada, <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/canada-edges-finland-sweden-wins-big-in-hlinka-gretzky-cup-openers">recording a goal and an assist in the team’s 5-3 loss</a>. [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/finland-s-oscar-hemming-i-have-a-better-hockey-iq-than-brother-emil]
