Edmonton to host 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup

One of the biggest hockey markets will once again have the opportunity to showcase some of the game’s next stars.

On Saturday, it was announced that Edmonton, Alberta will be the host of the 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

No official dates have been set yet, but it’s expected to take place around the traditional time of year in early August. No venues have been revealed either, though it’s easy to predict that it will be held at Rogers Place, home of the Edmonton Oilers, as well as the Down Community Arena.

It will be the second time in three years, and the third time overall, that the tournament will be held in the provincial capital of Alberta. The first time came in 2018, with it being another six years before it came back to Edmonton. The tournament was supposed to be held in the Oilers’ backyard in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the tournament to be canceled. The first time Canada hosted the event was in 1996, when it was held in Nelson and Castlegar, British Columbia.

There’s speculation that this will be the last time Canada will be home to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup for the foreseeable future. Czechia and Slovakia, which were consistent hosts to the event every year from 1997 to 2017, are expected to be the full-time homes for the tournament starting in 2027.

This year’s tournament, which pitted Sweden and the United States in the gold medal game, was held in Trencin, Slovakia, while the bronze medal game, between Canada and Finland, was held in Brno, Czechia. The former unified nations have co-hosted the tournament in 20 of the first 26 tournaments, formerly known as the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.

The under-18 tournament is held as a bit of a showcase featuring many future NHL Draft picks, with big names typically hearing their names called the following summer. This year’s edition saw Canada’s bid for a fourth straight gold medal fall short. The Canadians have won gold in the event a record 25 times, taking home 29 medals in all. The second-best nation in the tournament is Rusisa/Soviet Union, which has won five golds and 18 total medals.