PENHOLD – International hockey is coming to Penhold.
The town will join Edmonton, Red Deer and Sylvan Lake in welcoming international hockey players for the first Hlinka Gretzky Cup this August.
The best young hockey players from around the world, including Canada, will participate in the summer tournament, hosted by Edmonton and Red Deer.
Penhold, Red Deer and Sylvan Lake will each host a pre-tournament game on Aug. 4.
Sweden and Finland will face off at the Penhold Regional Multiplex. Puck drop is 3 p.m.
“These are the best under-18 hockey players in the world,” said Mike Yargeau, Penhold mayor. “We’re very excited to host this game.”
The announcement came during a Red Deer Rebels game on March 27. Three representatives from Hockey Canada were on hand, as were mayors Mike Yargeau, Tara Veer and Sean MacIntyre.
“It’s great when Hockey Canada has events like this and they try to get the surrounding communities involved,” he added. “They reached out to the communities of Penhold and Sylvan Lake and offered us this chance where we can get our residents out to the multiplex to watch some of the best hockey players in the world.”
Yargeau noted the many tourists and visitors expected in Central Alberta this summer.
“We’ll have a lot of overseas visitors and we’ll be able to showcase our town,” said Yargeau.
Hockey Canada will host the tournament in Canada, known as the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, every second year. It will continue to be held in the Czech Republic in alternating years.
Yargeau said he hopes the success of this year’s game will encourage organizers to make the pre-tournament event a tradition in Central Alberta.
“We want to show off our community, show the community spirit we have and how much support this game will get when it happens,” said Yargeau.
The Hlinka Gretzky Cup will feature 18 games over six days played at Rogers Place in Edmonton, including the gold-medal game on Aug. 11. Group B games will be held at the brand-new Servus Arena in Red Deer.
“This is an important event for players as they progress through Canada’s Program of Excellence, and we are thankful to the Czech Ice Hockey Association and Slovak Ice Hockey Federation for their partnership in bringing this best-on-best, high-calibre event to Canada,” said Scott Smith, president and chief operating officer at Hockey Canada.
“The rebranding of the event to honour two national hockey heroes reinforces how special this truly is, and we look forward to building on this event’s legacy for years to come.”
Many tournament alumni have gone on to successful careers in the National Hockey League (NHL), including Sidney Crosby, Patrik Laine, and Steven Stamkos. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom, Jesse Puljujarvi, Zack Kassian, Kris Russell and Michael Cammalleri have all represented their countries in the tournament.
Canada has dominated the tournament with 21 gold medals in 27 years.
