Hlinka Gretzky Cup: Canada takes on USA, While Sweden Battles Czechia in Semifinal

The semifinals of the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup have arrived with Canada taking on the USA, and Sweden battling it out with Czechia, but only two will come out as finalists.

Every year the Hlinka Gretzky Cup comes around at the start of August, marking the unofficial kick-off of the next draft season as some of the top U-18 talent from around the world gather. It's when the hype train begins to chug along for many of the draft-eligible talent.

With the round-robin finishing up yesterday, the semifinal matchups are set. Canada is set to renew their rivalry with the Americans, and Czechia is hoping to reach the final for a second straight year but they have the Swedes in their way. It should be a couple of exciting matchups with a trip to the gold medal game on the line.

Sweden’s only loss came in a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire game against Canada to finish the round-robin. The Swedes have looked great throughout the tournament, getting scoring from all over the lineup. They have received some outstanding help from both Love Harenstam (2025 NHL Draft) and Isak Sorqvist (2025). Their defensive group isn’t the most offensively gifted but they’ve done some nice work in their own end.

The top three scorers at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup to this point are all Swedes with Viktor Klingsell (2025) leading the way with 10 points, while Ivar Stenberg (2026) and Milton Gastrin (2025) both have nine points. The linemates have been excellent throughout the tournament. They play fast, get the puck to the middle and work to get to rebounds. They boosted their point totals in the game against Switzerland with Stenberg picking up four goals and seven points while Gastrin and Klingsell had two goals each and eight and seven points respectively.

On the Czechia side of things, the team hasn’t lost a single game with their game against the Americans being their toughest matchup, winning 2-1 with a late goal in the third period giving them the victory. Czechia hasn’t scored the lights out but they’ve defended well and they have gotten solid play in net. They come into this matchup as the slight favorite but it’s the most even of the two semifinals on paper.

Adam Benak (2025) is fourth in tournament scoring but he set the all-time Hlinka scoring record with his combined point totals from this tournament and the 2023 Hlinka, now three points clear of Magnus Paajarvi’s previous record of 15. Benak is an undersized forward but his skill, pace, and feistiness have allowed him to battle through his size disadvantage every shift. Adam Novotny (2025) has been fantastic alongside Benak on the Czech squad's top line.

This will be the tighter matchup between the two semifinal games. It will be a matchup of strength on strength as the Swedes' offense will look to beat up on the strong Czech team's defensive play. Whichever team can dictate play will come out victorious in this matchup.

One of hockey’s biggest rivalries will be renewed as the Canadians will take on the Americans in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup semifinal. Canada comes into this matchup as the favorite thanks to depth at every position and the high-end skill that hasn’t even quite broken through at the tournament just yet. Gavin McKenna (2026) was a dominant force at the U-18s in the spring and while he has five points through three games, he hasn’t been his typically dominant self. With that said, he saved his best for the biggest games of that spring tournament and with the elimination round starting, we could see McKenna pop off.

Matthew Schaefer (2025) has led the Canadian defense corps, playing at a high level at both ends of the ice. His skating and calm demeanor with and without the puck allow him to defend at a high level, move the puck up ice and then jump into the play offensively. Schaefer is having an excellent tournament to kick off his draft year. Alex Huang (2025) and Quinn Beauchesne (2025) have also been fantastic on the backend as well.

You can’t talk about Canada’s dominance without bringing up their goaltending. Jack Ivankovic (2025) and Lucas Beckman (2025) have allowed one goal each through three games. Ivankovic is the lead dog in the Canadian crease and his performance has been phenomenal with his game against Sweden being the peak of his powers. Had he not been as stellar as he was, particularly on a wild scramble in the second period, Canada may not have won the group.

The American squad hasn’t been quite as dominant as the other three semifinalists and that was to be expected as the USA Hockey National Team Development Program has most of the top U-18 Americans on that roster and the Hlinka team is the best of the rest. That being said, they’ve only lost one game which came against the group-winning Czech squad and they’ve found ways to still pull out wins.

It’s largely been offense by committee for Team USA. They are the only team in the tournament with 13 players registering at least two points and only Canada has more than 8. Alexander Donovan leads the way with five points while Blake Fiddler and Carter Murphy have put up some points from the back end. Cooper Simpson is a player many thought would have a big tournament but with just one point thus far, he will need to show up on the big stage in the semifinal.

This game is Canada’s to lose. The Americans don’t quite have the firepower to keep up at any position with their best players not at the tournament and Canada having everyone they could have wanted. Canada can’t take the Americans easy though because they’ll be fired up to play their rivals and upset the home nation in front of their fans.