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    Christian Daya
    Christian Daya
    Jul 23, 2025, 18:44

    In 1991, Japan hosted a hockey tournament called the Phoenix Cup. Since then, the tournament has gone through many iterations as well as many different names. Today, the tournament is known as the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and hosts some of the world’s best hockey players under the age of 18.

    Every year since 2018, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup has selected the top U-18 prospects to be invited to their development camps ahead of their tournament. This year, the American development camp will be held at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, starting July 28th and ending on August 3rd.

    There are 16 different players that have been invited to the camp this year with affiliations in the USHL. Below is a list of all USHLers going to the U.S. Hlinka Gretzky Cup Camp at the end of the month:

    Nathan Bienstock (17) – Defense, from the Green Bay Gamblers

    Nick Bogas (17) – Defense, from the Waterloo Black Hawks

    Henry Chmiel (17) – Defense, from the Des Moines Buccaneers

    Nicholas Desiderio (17) – Defense, from the Dubuque Fighting Saints

    Kaiden Donia (17) – Defense, from the Lincoln Stars

    Aidan Hesse (17) – Goalie, from the Sioux Falls Power

    Jack Hextall (17) – Center, from the Youngstown Phantoms

    Nikita Klepov (17) – Forward, Sioux City Musketeers

    Brady Knowling (17) – Goalie, from the USNTDP Juniors

    Kade Meyer (16) – Defense, from the USNTDP Juniors

    Nicklas Nelson (16) – Defense, from the Sioux Falls Stampede

    Zaide Penner (17) – Defense, from the Fargo Force

    Luke Puchner (17) – Forward, from the Lincoln Stars

    Kaenan Smith (17) – Goalie, from the Sioux Falls Power

    Cooper Soller (16) – Forward, from the Sioux Falls Stampede

    Blake Zielinski (17) Forward, from the Des Moines Buccaneers