GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff is one of the 25 players who will represent Canada at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, as announced by Hockey Canada on Friday afternoon. Verhoeff will try to help his home nation capture a fourth straight gold medal at the event, set for Aug. 11-16 in Brno, Czechia and Trencin, Slovakia.
Verhoeff is one of eight defensemen named to the roster, which was selected by the General Manager of the Program of Excellence Alan Millar.
The Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, native already has a gold medal to his name for his home nation after helping Canada capture the crown at the 2025 IIHF U-18 Men’s World Championships. In that tournament, Verhoeff finished with five points (1G, 4A) in five games while also notching a plus-6 rating.
A future prospect was also named to the roster, bringing UND’s total possible representation to don the Maple Leaf to two.
Canada will open the preliminary round of the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup against Finland on Aug. 11 at 8:30 a.m. (CT). It will also take on Switzerland and Czechia on Aug. 12 and Aug. 13, respectively, before the tournament concludes with the medal games on Aug. 16. Prior to the start of the tournament, Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team will play pre-tournament games in Budapest against Hungary’s national under-20 team on Aug. 7 and in Piestany against Slovakia on Aug. 9.
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