COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The United States Under-18 Men’s Select Team will begin preparation for the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup with an opening practice Tuesday (Aug. 1) in Budapest, Hungary.
While in Hungary, Team USA will play an exhibition game Thursday (Aug. 3) against the Hungarian Under-20 National Team at 8 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET). A second exhibition game against Slovakia’s Under-18 National Team is scheduled for Aug. 5 in Bratislava, Slovakia, at 5:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. ET). The U.S. will open Hlinka Cup play Aug. 7 against Sweden in Breclav, Czech Republic.
The Hlinka Cup is an annual best-on-best tournament held in August for players under the age of 18. It is regarded as the first major international event of the 2017-18 scouting season for NHL Draft-eligible prospects. The U.S. has won the tournament once (2003) and finished among the top three in three of the past four years, including a second-place finish in 2016.
The 2017 tournament will be held Aug. 7-12 in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. The U.S. will begin tournament play in Group A with the Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland. Group B will include Canada, Finland, Russia and Slovakia. Tournament games will be live streamed, with a link available here approximately one week before the opening game.
For complete 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup coverage from USA Hockey, click here.
Notes: Clark Donatelli (Providence, R.I.) will serve as head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team after guiding the squad to a second-place finish at the 2016 Hlinka Cup. Donatelli is head coach of the American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins … U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team assistant coaches are J.D. Forrest (Auburn, N.Y.), Cory Laylin (St. Cloud, Minn.), Matt Millar (El Segundo, Calif.) and Scott Paluch (Bowling Green, Ohio), who guided the U.S. Youth Olympic Men’s Hockey Team to a gold medal in 2016. USA Hockey’s Kevin McLaughlin (Colorado Springs, Colo.) will serve as team manager … Team USA has finished in the top three of the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup 13 times since the tournament began in 1991. The U.S. earned first place in 2003, second on nine occasions (1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2016) and third three times (1991, 1995, 2014) … The 22 players on the U.S. roster represent nine different states.
