Red Deer to hold Hlinka Gretzky Cup before World Juniors return to Edmonton in August

Rogers Place sits empty after the cancellation of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Edmonton on Wednesday, December 29, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

CALGARY — Edmonton will be the sole host of the 2022 men's world junior championship and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup will be held in Red Deer, Alta., this summer.

Hockey Canada announced the new locations of the two marquee international events on Tuesday.

The world juniors in Red Deer, Alta., and Edmonton were cancelled in December after COVID-19 outbreaks sidelined several teams at the tournament.

Edmonton's Rogers Place will host the world juniors again from Aug. 9-20, in partnership with the NHL's Edmonton Oilers.

Hockey Canada said that the results of December's games will not be carried over to this summer’s world juniors.

Players born in 2002 or later will remain eligible to represent their respective countries.

Austria, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States will form Group A, with Canada, Czechia, Finland, Latvia and Slovakia competing in Group B.

The 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup will be held at the Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer, Alta., from July 31-Aug. 6 in partnership with the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels.

It's the first time the best-on-best under-18 men's tournament has been hosted in Canada by one community.

Canada's national men’s summer U18s will play its preliminary-round games in Group A against Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland, while Czechia, Finland, Germany and the United States in Group B.

Since its inception in 1991, the event has featured premier under-18 players from some of the world’s greatest hockey nations and has seen Canada win a tournament-record 22 gold medals.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2022.