2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: Top standouts from semifinals as Canada, Czechia to play for gold
EDMONTON – It’s time for a golden rematch.
With victories in their respective semifinal matchups, Canada and Czechia will battle it for gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton, Alberta, at 8:00 PM ET on Saturday.
The two teams met in the gold medal game when Breclav hosted the tournament in 2023, with Malcolm Spence scoring the overtime winner to hand Canada the victory. The Czechs beat Canada 6-4 in a pretournament game two days before the start of the round-robin.
Canada will play in its 28th championship game, chasing their 25th title. The Czechs, meanwhile, could become only the second active team to have two championships after beating the United States in 2016. Canada has won the past two tournaments, while Czechia has won four titles since 2014.
Canada met up with their North American rivals from the United States in the semifinal, with Canada taking a 2-0 lead at one point. The Americans would get one back in second, only to have Cole Reschny score the 3-1 goal late in the frame to give Canada some space. An empty netter from Luca Romano and a last minute goal from Gavin McKenna finished off the 5-1 victory.
Sweden was able to strike first against the Czechs, with Viktor Klingsell scoring just past the halfway point in the first period. But with three goals in the second period, the Czechs suddenly found themselves out with a comfortable lead. A pair of empty-netters with under two minutes ago for the Czechs sunk the Swedes, a team many expected to challenge for gold heading into the event.
USA and Sweden will play for bronze at 3:30 PM ET on Saturday afternoon.
The fifth-place game started off slow, but Slovakia eventually skated off to a 5-2. victory. Adam Goljer scored the lone goal in the second period and Andreas Straka, Michal Svrcek and Michal Capos added goals in the third to make it 4-0 at one point. Max Ziergiebel and Rihards Griva scored about three minutes apart late in the game, but an empty netter from Tobias Tomik put the game away.
The seventh-place bout was definitely intriguing. Finland and Switzerland were tied at 2-2 in the second period, but the Finns eventually broke through to win 5-2. The Swiss finished last with just one point all tournament long.
Here’s a look at the top performers from the two semifinal matchups and the fifth-place game:
Canada
#5 Matthew Schaefer, D: Yet again, Schaefer was Canada’s best player. He just slows things down the way he carries the puck in the offensive zone, and he had an assist on the 1-0 Canadian goal early on. He then made an excellent play on what would have been the 3-1 goal had their not been goaltender interference. Schaefer is definitely going to get a team excited in the top five.
#1 Jack Ivankovic, G: Ivankovic has been one of the best goaltenders in the tournament, if not THE best. Today, he kept Canada in it and when the Americans were peppering him early and he held down the fort in the closing stages, too. The one goal he allowed was just a good shot from Sam Spehar, so there wasn’t much he could have done. It’s going to be a goaltending duel tomorrow.
#23 Cameron Schmidt, RW: Schmidt had a goal and an assist in another excellent effort for the Canadians. He had two goals a few days ago and it seems like he’s extremely confident around the net. It was a good read to catch Guite’s shot off the backboards and then put it in himself, showing a nice flash of good hockey IQ there.
#12 Alex Huang, D: After getting out of the box in the second, Huang scored a goal for the Canadians when he took Brady Martin’s pass and blasted it in to make it 2-0. Huang has had a very good tournament, and while it’s been quieter than, say, Schaefer, I think he’s proven at this tournament what he can do with a lot of ice time and the puck on his stick.
USA
#15 Sam Spehar, C: Spehar scored the goal that tied the game up at 1-1 after a good effort on his end. He’s speedy, and he goes as hard and relentless on forecheck as anyone in this tournament. He wants to be involved at all times and doesn’t seem to dog it, even on long shifts. I think Spehar has really established himself at this tournament, and while he’s small, his work ethic will earn him some draft consideration.
#4 Cullen McCrate, D: McCrate is a solid two-way defender and I think he did a good job of getting the puck into scoring areas today. I feel like I haven’t liked his tournament a much as some other guys have, but I think he was quick and difficult to play against today. He got matched up against Canada’s top two lines and didn’t let them get close to Ryan Cameron in the American net.
Czechia
#17 Adam Benak, C: This felt like Benak’s best game of the tournament – more so than his five-point game earlier. He scored a goal and two assists in the opening 40 minutes and just looked on it today. For a 5-foot-7 forward to thrive and have a shot at the NHL, he needs to be special. This week, he’s proving what he’s capable of and I can’t wait to watch him in the USHL.
#15 Tomas Poletin, LW: Poletin has played some excellent international hockey in the past, but he hadn’t been playing up to the high standard we know he’s capable of for much of the tournament. Today felt like one of those games where things were just working out for him – Poletin was really aggressive and making great outlet passes. He took a penalty, but I think, overall, that he looked like he could dance around whoever he wanted.
#8 Vít Záhejský, RW: Zahejsky was moving and grooving on the power play, scoring a goal and adding an assist in the second period before scoring an empty-netter late. The new Kamloops Blazers forward had points in his last two games heading into today and was moving the puck better than he was early on, so the progression has been solid.
#1 Ondrej Stebetak, G: Outside of maybe Canadian Jack Ivankovic, Stebetak has been the tournament’s best goaltender. He wasn’t tested early in the game but had to be stellar in the closing minutes and managed to shut the Swedes down when it mattered. He’s a huge reason why the Czechs have gotten this far.
Sweden
#6 Malte Vass, D: Vass landed a massive hit in the first period and then was a total menace out there the rest of the way. He doesn’t do much offensively (although he did score against the Swiss), so that limits his overall effectiveness, but he’s got his own-zone play sorted out and is good on transition. I really liked his game again today.
#11 Jakob Ihs Wozniak, LW: It’s been a rough tournament for JIW, but I felt like he looked like he had something to prove today and was good. He was seeing the ice well and was Sweden’s best forechecker, even when the Swedes were seemingly pinned in their zone for most of the first half of the game. Still, I think this tournament hasn’t been good for him from
Slovakia
#26 Jan Chovan, C: I’ve been critical of Chovan’s performances – I know he had a few points heading into today, but he just didn’t look anywhere as good as we know he can be. Today, he had two points to help change the course of play for the Slovaks. He looked good as both a shooter and a passer and was one of the biggest difference-makers on Friday.
#15 Andreas Straka, RW: Straka had some excellent looks around the net and the scoresheet reflected that. He scored the second goal on the power play and added an assist on the fifth goal to cap off the night. Straka has had some good showings in my viewings of him so I’m intrigued to follow him more.
#6 Michal Capos, D: Capos has been one of my favorite defenders not on a playoff team in this tournament. He doesn’t seem to do much offensively overall, but he scored today on a nice shot. I implore him to keep shooting because it’s quite powerful. And defensively, he was a rock again today. An overall nice effort.
Germany
#27 Rihards Griva, RW: Griva was one of Germany’s best players in the preliminary round, and he finally got himself back into the goal column. His brother found him all alone in front of the net late in the game, and Rihards faked out the Slovak goalie before going up high. As a pair, I like both of the Griva twins, but Rihards, a high-volume shooter, was the better of them today.