The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is back in Edmonton from Aug. 3-8, and while this year’s field is packed with NHL Draft-eligible talent, the tournament also offers a reminder of how many current Oilers once used this stage to announce themselves.
Before it carried its current name, the event went through several identities - the Phoenix Cup, the Junior World Cup, and the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament - after debuting in 1991. Since the name changed to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2018, six current Oilers have already left their mark on it.
Mattias Ekholm was one of them back in 2007, when he played for Sweden at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The then-17-year-old was part of a Swedish group that included former Oilers Anton Lander and Magnus Pääjärvi, and Sweden rolled through the preliminary round unbeaten before meeting Finland in the gold-medal game.
Ekholm opened the scoring in that final, but Finland forced overtime late before Victor Hedman finished it off for Sweden. Ekholm ended the tournament with two points - one goal and one assist - in four games, plus a team-best +5 rating.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ turn came in 2010, one year before the Oilers made him the first overall pick. Coming off a WHL Rookie of the Year season with the Red Deer Rebels, where he put up 65 points in 67 games, he joined Team Canada in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and delivered a huge offensive tournament.
He scored a hat trick against Switzerland in a 7-3 preliminary-round win, then buried the only goal in Canada’s 1-0 victory over Team USA in the final. Afterward, he told CHL.ca, “I wanted to be a leader and help the team get through it and take it all in.”
He added, “I managed to produce some offence for the team, and was pretty happy about that, too.” Nugent-Hopkins finished with seven points, including five goals that tied for the tournament lead.
Connor Murphy was on the other side of that 2010 gold-medal game for Team USA. The defenceman watched Nugent-Hopkins decide the final, but Murphy still had a strong run of his own.
He led all American blueliners with four points - one goal and three assists - in five games, and his biggest moment came in the semifinal against Sweden. Murphy scored the overtime winner on an end-to-end rush to send the U.S. to the gold-medal game with a 5-4 win.
Evan Bouchard represented Canada in 2016, when the tournament was still called the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and was again held in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Canada entered chasing a ninth straight gold medal, but that streak ended after the team won only one game in the preliminary round.
The Canadians finished fifth after beating Finland 4-3, with Max Comtois leading the way with five points in four games. Bouchard, then 16, played all four games and finished without a point.
That tournament also marked the first time he played with former Oiler Ryan McLeod, a teammate he would later share parts of three seasons with in Edmonton.
Vasily Podkolzin made his Hlinka Gretzky Cup impact in 2018, the first year the event used its new name and the first edition held in Red Deer and Edmonton, AB. Russia named him captain, and he was dominant from start to finish.
Podkolzin scored in every game, then saved his best for the bronze-medal game against the United States, where he scored a hat trick. He led the tournament with eight goals and tied for the scoring lead with 11 points in five games.
That performance helped drive his draft stock, and the Vancouver Canucks picked him 10th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft.
The most recent Oiler on this list to appear in the tournament was Shakir Mukhamadullin, who played for Team Russia in 2019 in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Russia advanced through the preliminary round, beat Finland 4-1 in the semifinal, and then edged Canada 3-2 in the gold-medal game.
Canada outshot Russia 37-13, but Yaroslav Askarov was the difference in goal. Mukhamadullin, then 17, played all five games, picked up an assist, and did his part on the blue line as Russia captured its first tournament title since 1995.
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