Hlinka Gretzky Cup

The Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament (also known as the U-18 Junior World Cup and formerly known as the Pacific Cup and the Nations Cup) is an annual event held each August for national under-18 ice hockey teams from around the world. Unsanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament is not granted official status by the sport's governing body. The IIHF's official under-18 tournament is held annually eight months later.

Beginning in 1991, the competition was held in Japan for the first three years, as well as the fifth. In its first year, it was known as the Phoenix Cup, after which the Pacific Cup moniker was adopted (with the exception of 1994, when Mexico served as the host country and the tournament was known as La Copa Mexico). In 1996, the tournament was held in Canada for the first and only time. Beginning the following year, Slovakia and the Czech Republic began alternating as hosts, while the tournament became known as the Nations Cup. Between 1997 and 2002, the tournament grew from three participating nations to eight. Starting in 2003, Slovakia and the Czech Republic began co-hosting annually. The competition's current namesake, Ivan Hlinka, was one of the first superstars in Czechoslovak hockey - both domestically and internationally. The U-18 Junior World Cup took on its current name in 2007, after Hlinka's death three years prior.

Historically, the tournament has been dominated by Canada; over 23 years, the country has won 18 times and medalled in each year except 2003 and 2007. As the IIHF's tournament conflicts with the Canadian Hockey League (CHL)'s playoff season, the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament is the only competition of the two to which Canada is able to send its best under-18 team.

Results

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue
1991	Soviet Union	Canada	United States	Sapporo/Yokohama
1992	Canada	Russia	Japan	Tokyo
1993	Russia	United States	Canada	Yokohama
1994	Canada	United States	Russia	Mexico City
1995	Russia	Canada	United States	Yokohama
1996	Canada	United States	Finland	Nelson/Castlegar, British Columbia
1997	Canada	Czech Republic	Slovakia	Jihlava/Žďár nad Sázavou/Znojmo
1998	Canada	Czech Republic	Slovakia	Bratislava
1999	Canada	United States	Czech Republic	Havlíčkův Brod/Třebíč/Znojmo
2000	Canada	United States	Czech Republic	Kežmarok
2001	Canada	Czech Republic	Russia	Kolín/Mladá Boleslav/Nymburk
2002	Canada	Czech Republic	Russia	Břeclav / Piešťany
2003	United States	Russia	Czech Republic	Břeclav / Piešťany
2004	Canada	Czech Republic	Sweden	Břeclav/Hodonín / Piešťany
2005	Canada	Czech Republic	Finland	Břeclav / Piešťany
2006	Canada	United States	Russia	Břeclav / Piešťany
2007	Sweden	Finland	Russia	Hodonín / Piešťany
2008	Canada	Russia	Sweden	Hodonín / Piešťany
2009	Canada	Russia	Sweden	Břeclav/Hodonín / Piešťany
2010	Canada	United States	Sweden	Břeclav / Piešťany
2011	Canada	Sweden	Russia	Břeclav / Piešťany
2012	Canada	Finland	Sweden	Břeclav / Piešťany
2013	Canada	United States	Czech Republic	Břeclav / Piešťany
2014	Canada	Czech Republic	United States	Břeclav / Piešťany
2015	Canada	Sweden	Russia	Břeclav / Bratislava

Medal leaders

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Medals
Canada	20	2	1	23
Russia / Soviet Union	3	4	7	14
United States	1	8	3	12
Sweden	1	2	5	8
Czech Republic	0	7	3	10
Finland	0	2	2	4
Slovakia	0	0	2	2
Japan	0	0	1	1

External links

• History from Hockey Canada

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