2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup

[jj cale]

As an American fan, I always look forward to this tournament because it's our B team versus Canada's best. A useful yardstick for measuring our progress against the hockey country that's perennially the one to beat.

A great measure for the American programs depth.

 

[ORRFForever]

As an American fan, I always look forward to this tournament because it's our B team versus Canada's best. A useful yardstick for measuring our progress against the hockey country that's perennially the one to beat.

Interesting. Well said.

I doubt it... This is a stomping ground for Canada and they dominate it usually. I've got it 70 percent chance they get the gold.

70% sounds right to me. With no Russia, this group's chances might even be higher.

Add Bedard to the team and it would be great.

**

Canadian hockey pucks have been waiting for the 2023 draft for a while - we are due for a group that is "special".

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

A great measure for the American programs depth.

Only one projected 2023 1st-rounder on the roster afaik - Quentin Musty. Will certainly be a big challenge against a stacked Canadian team.

Looking forward to seeing Benson on Team Canada. Had to play in the shadow of Savoie and Geekie somewhat in Winnipeg. Could be his coming out party.

 

[erikhamren]

I think this Swedish team is going to have a hard time scoring. Not much speed or high end skill in that forward group.

Stenberg is the only projected first rounder forward for us. But like i said earlier, we won the 4 nation tournament with the same squad but without Lindstein, Stenberg and Carlsson. I believe in this team

 

[FourQuarters]

Only one projected 2023 1st-rounder on the roster afaik - Quentin Musty. Will certainly be a big challenge against a stacked Canadian team.

Looking forward to seeing Benson on Team Canada. Had to play in the shadow of Savoie and Geekie somewhat in Winnipeg. Could be his coming out party.

I think Benson had a better playoffs than Savoie and Geekie. It will be fun to watch.

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

is there any place on the internets to watch czech and finland?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Only one projected 2023 1st-rounder on the roster afaik - Quentin Musty. Will certainly be a big challenge against a stacked Canadian team.

Looking forward to seeing Benson on Team Canada. Had to play in the shadow of Savoie and Geekie somewhat in Winnipeg. Could be his coming out party.

Gavin McCarthy should be considered a projected first rounder.

Carey Terrance, Will Whitelaw, and Will McDonough could also go first round.

It’s a pretty good American group for a Hlinka roster.

 

[Speyer]

Gruber isn’t injured I saw him practicing in wetzikon a few days ago.

Ok thanks. Very weird decision not to take your best or second best player to the tournament when he is healthy. Its not like we are loaded up front with talent either. But that is what Bayer, Jenni and company are doing now apparently.

 

[kudla]

So there is a 42 years old on team Switzerland. Not bad. Gerhard is finally gonna fulfil his dream of playing for the U18 team.

 

[ORRFForever]

View attachment 573565

So there is a 42 years old on team Switzerland. Not bad. Gerhard is finally gonna fulfil his dream of playing for the U18 team.

Nice! Nothing wrong with that. That means I have a chance to make Team Canada in 2023.

 

[Speyer]

View attachment 573565

So there is a 42 years old on team Switzerland. Not bad. Gerhard is finally gonna fulfil his dream of playing for the U18 team.

Things in swiss junior hockey are so bad that we have switched to nigerian sports tactics. Lets hope it pays off.

 

[theslatcher]

Goals from the Czechia - Sweden game.

 

[Wooren]

Goals from the Czechia - Sweden game.

So the game could have been streamed just fine, but for whatever reason, it was not.

Coverage of this tournament was embarassing the last time it took place in Canada, so far no difference I see.
And if the posts above are right and indeed some group stage games won't be streamed at all...

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

bingo, CFL is way more popular among Canadians, especially in the summer, then a game involving say...... Slovakia vs finland in a not really well known under 18 competition. I mean, it isn't for me but for more Canadians it is.

Yes. While I doubt the viewing audience is really big for the CFL. It is biiger than an Under 18 Tournament. But they don't have to have all 5 channels on one game. They can show the game with no audio (if they are too cheap to pay for that) on one channel.

 

[Antiillafire]

Yes. While I doubt the viewing audience is really big for the CFL. It is biiger than an Under 18 Tournament. But they don't have to have all 5 channels on one game. They can show the game with no audio (if they are too cheap to pay for that) on one channel.

Or even hockeycanada through their YouTube channel if needed for a game that less people will watch. I have zero problems with the tournament being in Canada but if you don’t make every game available to watch it is a concern.

 

[ijuka]

Well Finland got bopped.

Expected of course, but a 0-6 loss is always disappointing. Still, this is the worst age group for Finland in ages and even getting a bronze medal should be considered a major victory. Goaltending should have been key for Team Finland but allowing 6 goals in 32 shots shows that that wasn't working, either. Perhaps it's time to try Noa Vali in net, I think that he's just so underrated.

 

[erikhamren]

Well Finland got bopped.

Expected of course, but a 0-6 loss is always disappointing. Still, this is the worst age group for Finland in ages and even getting a bronze medal should be considered a major victory. Goaltending should have been key for Team Finland but allowing 6 goals in 32 shots shows that that wasn't working, either. Perhaps it's time to try Noa Vali in net, I think that he's just so underrated.

It Will be interesting too see How sweden will handle Canada. In 2021 u18 vm. We lost with 12-1, i expect similar numbers here

 

[Antiillafire]

It Will be interesting too see How sweden will handle Canada. In 2021 u18 vm. We lost with 12-1, i expect similar numbers here

They are so deep. Tanner Howe is the 13th forward on their team and he would arguably be the best player on pretty much every other team.

 

[ORRFForever]

Rider Pride.

I don't get it, but it's absolutely real. (My parents are both from SK.)

You gotta give it a try.

 

[Kuracmugger]

Switzerland will once again field a subpar team. The production of prospects has honestly been pathetic lately with the exception of the lone outlier Bichsel. The 2005 birth year looks the same. Braillard is the only promising player of that birthyear but he is probably not quite good enough to make the NHL either in the future. Gruber has stagnated a lot wich also had to do with multiple injuries. In international play he wasn't really able to make a lasting impression even against "lower level opponents" like Germany last year. I still wouldn't completely write him of since he has a lot of talent in certain areas and could bounce back if he can stay healty long term. Bünzli was hurt all season and seems to have dropped completely of the map, I don't even know if he is still playing at this point. The 2006 class looks a lot better than the 2005 one but rather depth wise than in terms of high end talent. Maybe one or two players from that birthyear will make the cut but I don't expect any significant impact by them yet. Unfortunately the days when Hischier dominated this tournament as an underager and made the Swiss team somewhat relevant by himself seem like lithghtyears away at this point. And I don't really see much light at the end of the tunnel yet.

I have the same thoughts as you altough i feel like the 05‘s look more talented than the 04‘s. But i have this feeling every year since like 2020 with knak canonica etc who didn’t really turn out well. But i wanted to say i can see the 05‘s beating germany and maybe czechia with a good day last year they won against czechia in an exhibition game but czechia is obviously the favourite. They have beaten germany so there is some hope. But i am a bit surprised there are no 06‘s on the roster there are a some players i liked against the czechs. But this is maybe not the right thread to discuss this. I would be curios if this german birth year is considered good or bad if somebody knows more i would appreciate an answer.
Edit: Bünzli still play‘s hes on gck u20 squad. And fit again as far as i know.

I’ll name few notable names for every team.

Canada: Brayden Yager, Cameron Allen, Lukas Dragicevic (But in reality the entire Canada squad are notable prospects.)

Czechia: Eduard Sale, Dominik Petr, Jakub Dvorak

Sweden: Otto Stenberg, Theo Lindstein, Kalle Carlsson

Germany: Paul Vinzens, Paul Mayer, Edwin Tropmann

Slovakia: Dalibor Dvorsky, Jakub Chromiak, Ondrej Molnar

Finland: Jesse Kiiskanen, Jesse Nurmi, Emil Jarventie

USA: Charlie Stramel, Will Smith, Oliver Moore

Switzerland: Kimo Grubner, Valdemar William Hull, Kevin Zurchner

Gruber isn‘t on team Switzerland but would be noteable if he was.

 

[Speyer]

I have the same thoughts as you altough i feel like the 05‘s look more talented than the 04‘s. But i have this feeling every year since like 2020 with knak canonica etc who didn’t really turn out well. But i wanted to say i can see the 05‘s beating germany and maybe czechia with a good day last year they won against czechia in an exhibition game but czechia is obviously the favourite. They have beaten germany so there is some hope. But i am a bit surprised there are no 06‘s on the roster there are a some players i liked against the czechs. But this is maybe not the right thread to discuss this. I would be curios if this german birth year is considered good or bad if somebody knows more i would appreciate an answer.
Edit: Bünzli still play‘s hes on gck u20 squad. And fit again as far as i know.

I certainly share the feeling that in the last few years a lot the developmental curves of once highly toutet Swiss prospects have been disapoining. There are still a small number of players that have met expectations, like JJ Moser and Bichsel (so far) but the success rate has dropped a lot compared to the players born in the 1990's. If you look at the 1996 birthyear as an extreme example: Only Noah Rod has not met the expectaions from the most talented players in that class. Then you have Fiala, Meier and Suter who became even way better than we could have hoped for. But the list of players who were born after 2000 and are not living up to their talent is long. I could name Patry, Berni, Nussbaumer, Delemont, Rochette, Allenspach, Canonica, Biasca, Greuter and now Gruber just on top of my head. I am sure there are others on top of that. Knak I haven't written off yet though, but he needs a big season this year to correct his course. But its certainly noticable that "we" don't do enough for our most talented players. Maybe the federation and the clubs would need to hire some personal trainers for them to maximise their potential if the family can't afford it. But I am sure the clubs are to cheap for that and the federation wouldn't do it because of their philosophy wich states that "every player should have the same treatment".

 

[Kuracmugger]

I certainly share the feeling that in the last few years a lot the developmental curves of once highly toutet Swiss prospects have been disapoining. There are still a small number of players that have met expectations, like JJ Moser and Bichsel (so far) but the success rate has dropped a lot compared to the players born in the 1990's. If you look at the 1996 birthyear as an extreme example: Only Noah Rod has not met the expectaions from the most talented players in that class. Then you have Fiala, Meier and Suter who became even way better than we could have hoped for. But the list of players who were born after 2000 and are not living up to their talent is long. I could name Patry, Berni, Nussbaumer, Delemont, Rochette, Allenspach, Canonica, Biasca, Greuter and now Gruber just on top of my head. I am sure there are others on top of that. Knak I haven't written off yet though, but he needs a big season this year to correct his course. But its certainly noticable that "we" don't do enough for our most talented players. Maybe the federation and the clubs would need to hire some personal trainers for them to maximise their potential if the family can't afford it. But I am sure the clubs are to cheap for that and the federation wouldn't do it because of their philosophy wich states that "every player should have the same treatment".

Yes i agree that young prospects stagnate. I am interested Whats the reason for that because i think meier usw had worse conditions to train. One reason is definitely that NLA clubs don’t let their young players train/play with their pro team to get them accustomed to higher speed than the U20 elit. Of course the foreigners rule doesn’t help this. And maybe the quantity of practice/games they have. I followed Bichsel’s stats closely and he had a game almost every day. And almost always 3 on a weekend. And i know swedish u20 teams have 2 practices every day except 1-2 days a week. If you go to a „sport school“ in Switzerland you have max. 3 morning practices. Disregarding pratice with first squad in the morning. I feel like this can be a factor too. Warch bichsel who improved heavily in sweden with this type of hockey lifestyle.

 

[Antiillafire]

Sounds like there indeed will be no stream for Finland-Czechia

 

[Leviathan899]

A great measure for the American programs depth.

Good point, that’s true. Although I do feel there are more and more good Americans opting out of the NTDP to play for other USHL or major junior/high school hockey. This American team has some good players for sure

 

[Bjindaho]

Sounds like there indeed will be no stream for Finland-Czechia

Tsn would rather show the US Junior Amateur Championship