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<p>EDMONTON – And the preliminary round is complete. </p>



<p>Canada, Sweden, Czechia and the USA will battle it out for medals at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup after firming up the four spots in the semifinals. The three-day preliminary round ended with three of the four taking home victories, with Sweden being the lone team to come out on the losing side. </p>



<p>Canada and the United States will play in one semifinal on Friday, with European rivals Sweden and Czechia fighting it out in the other contest. Germany and Slovakia will compete in the fifth-place game to kick off Friday’s action, while Finland and Switzerland will play in the seventh-place game to round out the standings.</p>



<p>Wednesday’s action started off slow, with Czechia beating Finland 4-1 in a slow affair. USA then crushed Germany 12-3 in the most lopsided contest of the day in a must-win for both teams. Fortunately, two exciting games closed out the day. Slovakia beat Switzerland 3-2 in overtime, but they nearly blew the game after leading 2-0 early. Then, Canada capped off a thrilling final match against Sweden, taking a 2-1 victory in a game that was tight from start to finish.</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="198"></div>



<p>Here’s a look at the top performers from three of the four games, having not witnessed the battle between Slovakia and </p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Canada</h2>



<p><strong>#5 Matthew Schaefer, D: </strong>He had a couple of defensive miscues, but Schaefer, overall, was just so calculated out there. Whenever he made a mistake, he’d bounce back on the next shift to make up for it. Schaefer is known for the way he commands the puck, but I liked that he played a bit more aggressively than we were used to seeing from him today.</p>



<p><strong>#1 Jack Ivankovic, G:</strong> With the game as tight as it was, the Canadians needed Ivankovic to stand tall. He had two major multi-save sequences that could have easily sunk them had they gone south. Ivankovic isn’t big, but he’s one of the most talented goaltenders in the 2025 NHL Draft and deserves a serious shot at being Brampton’s No. 1 in the NHL. He doesn’t let his smaller frame bother him – Ivankovic has the mobility you want from any star goalie prospect.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="172"></div>



<p><strong>#16 Brady Martin, RW: </strong>I thought Martin was quiet in his first two games but he was all over the ice today. He made an excellent pass to Cole Reschny that nearly paid off in the second period and dazzled with a few other nice moves along the way. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Sweden</h2>



<p><strong>#6 Malte Vass, D:</strong> I was impressed with Vass’ physicality. He can be mean, take space away and play shutdown defense. That’s pretty much all he does, but he’s good at it. The Swedish blueline got caught trying to do a bit too much the past two games but Vass was able to keep a steady presence. He spent all game giving Canad</p>



<p><strong>#1 Isak Sorqvist, G:</strong> Sorqvist wasn’t overly busy, but throwing him in for his first start against a hungry Canadian team in a game that decided who won the group was a ballsy call. The Swedes lost, but Sorqvist was excellent, especially as the Canadians looked strong early in the third period. I hadn’t seen him play before today, but I liked how well he tracked pucks and moved his legs to cover the bottom of the net.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="191"></div>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">USA</h2>



<p><strong>#3 Blake Fiddler, D:</strong> Fiddler has gotten better with each passing game, which is all you can really ask for. The mobile, 6-foot-3 defender had a goal and an assist in the first period and also landed two quality hits, too. His hockey sense is questionable, but someone who can move the puck with skill, block shots and be an overall nuisance will draw attention from NHL teams. I’ve really liked him for the Americans.</p>



<p><strong>#7 Ben Kevan, C:</strong> Kevan has been, in my opinion, the most consistent forward throughout the early stages of this tournament. He drives the net with purpose and he helped set up the 2-0 goal, too. He’s a smooth forward who can be flashy at times, but its his pure offensive instincts that stand out – he seems to always be in the right spot at the right time.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="3" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="144"></div>



<p><strong>#24 Nicolas Sykora, LW:</strong> With two goals, Sykora showed how much he loved shooting the puck in open space. He’s good on the power play because he knows where he wants the puck and wastes no time putting it there. The son of former NHLer Petr Sykora, I think teams will be intrigued with Nicolas’ skill.</p>



<p><strong>#14 Mason Moe, LW:</strong> A two-goal game was exactly what the doctor ordered. Moe had played some good hockey early on but hadn’t found a way to score. He was good on rebounds today and found ways to outsmart German defenders with the way he moved out there.</p>



<p><strong>#19 Alexander Donovan, RW:</strong> Between killing penalties – and generating a goal shortanded – and being a nuisance around the net, there was a lot to like about Donovan today. A five point night will do that to you, but I really liked how prominent he was on the penalty kill, especially. He’s a guy who can play all situations and not look out of place.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="4" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="170"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Germany</h2>



<p><strong>#7 Carlos Handel, D: </strong>Handel is the top German player this year and I’ll give him credit for a good third period. He led the team’s power play and even scored to make it 11-2 on a good individual effort. Sometimes, he feels the need to just rush in and do things himself, and he was great at that today.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Czechia</h2>



<p><strong>#10 Dominik Pavlik, C: </strong>As Czechia’s third-line center, Pavlik was one of my biggest standouts. He’s a two-way forward who isn’t huge, but has muscle and isn’t afraid to push players around to get to where he needs to be. He’s quick, attacks on the forecheck and is quite creative, too. I think it helps that he’s a good penalty killer, too, and he’s always willing to throw his body in the way to make a block. I can see Pavlik getting serious consideration at the draft.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="5" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="147"></div>



<p><strong>#22 Vojtech Cihar, LW:</strong> Cihar can get flashy, and his work to set up Tomas Poletin was nice. Cihar has built a reputation of being one of the hardest-working, high-energy wingers on this Czech team and he did a good job of fighting past two Finnish defenders to set up Poletin. That came after a good first period for him where he nearly finished on a scoring play near the side of the net.</p>



<p><strong>#28 Robin Svancara, RW:</strong> Svancara is the 13th forward, but he was honestly one of the more impressive players for Czechia today. He scored a nice goal to make it 3-0 and had a couple of close chances early on that ultimately didn’t come together. He’s the type of player teams will take a chance on in the bottom six because he’s strong, smart, and has a nice shot.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="6" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="143"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Finland</h2>



<p><strong>#10 Atte Joki, C:</strong> There wasn’t much to like about the Finnish attack – yet again – but I thought Joki at least put up a fight. It was his tremendous effort to get the puck to the front of the net that led to Finland’s only goal, and it’s not the first time he’s been seen fighting past multiple defenders to create a scoring chance. Joki might not be high on anyone’s radar, but I like how hard he works to generate a chance, even when he’s outnumbered.</p>


Jack Ivankovic (Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff)