The Canadian under-18 men’s hockey team routed the United States 8-1 on Saturday to win gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Brock England, Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue each scored twice, while Benjamin Veitch and Jaakko Wycisk also scored for Canada at Rogers Place. The hosts outshot the Americans 45-17 and led 3-1 after the first period and 6-1 heading into the third. Canadian captain Landon DuPont had four assists. Gunnar Conboy scored a power-play goal for the Americans, who went 1-for-5 on the power play. Canada’s power play went 3-for-5. Perfect tournament Canada finished the preliminary round in first place in Group A after wins over Switzerland (7-3), Slovakia (6-1) and Sweden (7-4). It booked its spot in the gold-medal game with a 6-3 win over Finland in the semifinals. The gold marks Canada’s 26th U18 gold medal at the summer event and the 31st medal overall, which includes three silver and two bronze. Oulahen’s pride Canadian coach Ryan Oulahen said he was thrilled with the end result. “I am so proud of this group. I know the score says what it says, but I would have been proud if it was a 1-0 game because of how well we played and the way everyone bought in to what we wanted to accomplish,” said Oulahen, speaking with media following the win. “This group will be remembered for playing the Canadian way. We got better every single day, and tonight was 60 minutes of exactly how you would want to draw things up. This is an impressive team that is led by an impressive staff, and I am going to remember this experience forever.” Oulahen is the current head coach of the North Bay Battalion and previously served as an assistant coach when Canada won gold at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton. “I am extremely honoured to lead Team Canada at this year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton,” said Oulahen, in a statement after being named head coach. “It is very special to be able to represent Canada and to work with our country’s best available players for this age group.” Warren’s experience Forward Cam Warren, who plays for Oulahen with the Battalion, finished the tournament with two goals and five assists in five games – providing two assists in Saturday’s gold-medal win. “It’s a huge honour when you get the call to put on that jersey,” said Warren during the tournament. “I take so much pride wearing it not only for yourself or your teammates but for your country and the kids back home, and it is just a super cool experience all around, especially all the guys that I get a chance to play with and the guys I played at the U17s with it has been a pretty fun experience.” Warren played a key role in Canada Red’s gold-medal win at the November 2025 U17 World Challenge in Truro, Nova Scotia. “It is super cool to experience this with him and to know what he expects out of drills and out of practices and stuff,” Warren told TSN. “It is obviously a little bit of an advantage for me, but just taking it all in with him, and we have had some pretty cool moments.” Schultz, who was named player of the game, also spoke with the media after the win. “This is a crazy moment because we have dreamt of this since the start of the tournament, and it was our mission to win gold,” said Schultz. “It feels great to be wearing the gold medal around our necks, and everyone is excited to get this win.” “We knew we had it in us and that we were the group that could get it done, and to have the crowd behind us every shift and cheer us on was incredible,” Schultz added. With files from the Canadian Press and TSN
