2026-07-22<\/p>\n
CALGARY, Alberta \u2013 <\/span>Hockey Canada has unveiled the 27 players who will take part in Canada\u2019s National Men\u2019s Summer Under-18 Team<\/span><\/a> training camp ahead of the 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup<\/span><\/a>, set for Aug. 3-9 at Rogers Place and the Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton.<\/p>\n Halifax Mooseheads defenceman Malik L\u2019Italien has been named to the initial roster, which includes three goaltenders, nine defencemen and 15 forwards<\/span><\/a>. The 27 players were selected by Program of Excellence (POE) general manager Alan Millar (Tottenham, ON), alongside POE head scout Byron Bonora (Brooks, AB) and U18 assistant general manager Yanick Lemay (Drummondville, QC\/Drummondville, QMJHL), with input from Scott Salmond (Creston, BC), senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations, and Benoit Roy (Sudbury, ON), director of hockey operations.<\/p>\n L’Italien is coming off a stellar first season with the Mooseheads after the team drafted him third overall in 2025. The native of Montreal, QC scored 24 points in 64 games played \u2013 making him the highest scoring 16-year-old defenceman in the league. He was named to the QMJHL\u2019s All-Rookie Team in April.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are excited to unveil the 27 players who will begin the road to the 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup at training camp in Edmonton. This is a talented and well-rounded group of young players,\u201d Millar said. \u201cOur staff have worked tirelessly to identify a roster that we believe gives us the best chance to be successful on home ice. We look forward to gathering in Edmonton next week to continue our preparations for the tournament, and for the opportunity to get Canada back on top of the podium in front of Canadian fans in August.\u201d<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s National Men\u2019s Summer Under-18 Team training camp, set for July 27-Aug. 1<\/span><\/a> at NAIT Arena and Rogers Place in Edmonton, will include practices and a game against Sweden on July 30. Canada\u2019s National Men\u2019s Summer Under-18 Team will also take on Czechia on Aug. 1 as part of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup pre-tournament schedule<\/span><\/a> before the roster is finalized ahead of the start of the tournament.<\/p>\n Mooseheads Head Coach Brad MacKenzie will serve as an Assistant Coach for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.<\/p>\n Canada opens the 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup against Switzerland on Aug. 3 at 5 p.m. MT. It will face Slovakia on Aug. 4 and Sweden on Aug. 5 to close out the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the medal games on Aug. 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 27 players vying for a roster spot for the upcoming Hlinka Gretzky Cup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":57520,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[202],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-57518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-202","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2026\/07\/22115909\/IMG_3160.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57518"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57522,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57518\/revisions\/57522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":57381,"date":"2026-07-21T10:56:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T13:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/?p=57381"},"modified":"2026-07-21T10:57:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T13:57:00","slug":"mooseheads-add-free-agent-defenceman-brady-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/article\/mooseheads-add-free-agent-defenceman-brady-smith","title":{"rendered":"Mooseheads add free agent defenceman Brady Smith"},"content":{"rendered":" 2026-07-21<\/p>\n The Halifax Mooseheads have made their second American Free Agent signing of the offseason. General Manager Cam Russell announced the addition of Brady Smith<\/strong><\/a><\/span> today, following a USHS Prep career with Taft School in Connecticut.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re very pleased to add a defenceman who brings a strong offensive mindset to our roster. His ability to move the puck efficiently and contribute to our transition game makes him an excellent fit for the direction we\u2019re taking as a team,\u201d<\/strong> Russell said.<\/p>\n Smith will be entering his 19-year-old season with the Mooseheads in 2026-27. The Columbine Valley, CO native is 6-feet-tall and weighs 172 pounds. He played four seasons at Taft where he served as an Alternate Captain. Smith scored 41 points in 99 career games.<\/p>\n He also played at various levels of the Yale Junior Bulldogs program over the last six seasons. The left-handed shooting blueliner scored 16 points in 21 games this past season with Yale U18 AAA. Smith appeared in two games as a call-up with the USHL\u2019s Madison Capitols last season and notched three assists during that stint.<\/p>\n The Mooseheads previously announced the free agent addition of 19-year-old American forward Evan Nee<\/a><\/span> in April.<\/p>\n Halifax will open 2026 Goodlife Fitness Training Camp at the team practice facility on Wednesday, August 19th. The Moose begin the QMJHL Preseason two nights later in Dartmouth versus Cape Breton. The full training camp schedule and preseason ticket information will be released in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 19-year-old blueliner from Columbine Valley, CO beefs up the Halifax defence corps<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":57516,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[202],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-57381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-202","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2026\/07\/21103047\/Photo-2026-07-21-10-27-36-AM.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57381"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57515,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57381\/revisions\/57515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":57508,"date":"2026-07-20T15:33:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T18:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/?p=57508"},"modified":"2026-07-20T15:33:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T18:33:38","slug":"follow-mooseheads-prospects-in-action-at-u17-development-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hockeycanada.ca\/en-ca\/national-championships\/men\/world-u17\/2026\/development-camp\/stats\/schedule","title":{"rendered":"Follow Mooseheads prospects in action at U17 Development Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" M\u00e9nard, Cameron & Thisdelle will each play three games in Oakville, ON this week<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":57507,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[208],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-57508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-link","category-208","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2026\/07\/20153042\/Menard-U17.jpg",1280,853,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57509,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57508\/revisions\/57509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":57473,"date":"2026-07-08T13:58:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T16:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/?p=57473"},"modified":"2026-07-08T13:59:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T16:59:29","slug":"mackenzie-to-represent-canada-at-hlinka-gretzky-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/article\/mackenzie-to-represent-canada-at-hlinka-gretzky-cup","title":{"rendered":"Mackenzie to represent Canada at Hlinka\/Gretzky Cup"},"content":{"rendered":" 2026-07-08<\/p>\n Halifax Mooseheads bench boss Brad MacKenzie<\/a><\/span> has been named an Assistant Coach for Canada’s National Men’s Summer U18 team at the upcoming Hlinka\/Gretzky Cup to be held August 3-8 in Edmonton, AB.<\/p>\n The Charlottetown, PE native will join the staff of Head Coach Ryan Oulahen (North Bay \/ OHL) along with fellow Assistants Ryan McDonald (Prince Albert \/ WHL) and Kyle Chipchura (Edmonton \/ WHL) as Canada seeks its 26th summer U18 Gold Medal. Other coaches include goaltending coach Jeff Harvey (Saskatoon \/ WHL) and Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia’s Matthew Smith of the Newfoundland Regiment, who will serve as the video coach.<\/p>\n The coaching staff was selected by\u00a0Program of Excellence general manager Alan Millar,\u00a0Yanick Lemay (Drummondville \/ QMJHL), assistant general manager of Canada\u2019s National Men\u2019s Summer Under-18 Team, Scott Salmond, senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations, and Benoit Roy, director of hockey operations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are thrilled to welcome Ryan, Ryan, Brad and Kyle to the staff for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup,\u201d said Millar. \u201cEach brings a pedigree of coaching experience, particularly in short-term international competition, which will be a tremendous asset as we prepare for the tournament. We\u2019re excited to continue the process of building a team and working with a group of players who will proudly represent Canada and showcase their talent to hockey fans in Edmonton in August.\u201d<\/p>\n MacKenzie <\/strong>was promoted to head coach of the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League in July 2025 and guided them to the playoffs in his first season at the helm while posting a 29-29-3-3 record for 64 points in 64 games. He served one season as associate coach with the Mooseheads (2024-25) and three as an assistant coach (2022-24). Prior to joining the Mooseheads, he was head coach of the Grand Falls Rapids of the Maritime Hockey League (2019-21), earning MHL Coach of the Year honours in 2020-21. MacKenzie also won a gold medal as an assistant coach with Canada White at the 2024 U17 World Challenge.<\/p>\n The roster for Canada\u2019s National Men\u2019s Summer Under-18 Team training camp will be announced at a later date.<\/p>\n Canada will play its opening game of the 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup on Aug. 3 at 5 p.m. MT. It will also face Slovakia on Aug. 4 and Sweden on Aug. 5 to close out the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the medal games on Aug. 8. Canada\u2019s National Men\u2019s Summer Under-18 Team will hold a training camp prior to the start of the tournament, set for July 27-30<\/a> at NAIT Arena in Edmonton, which will include practices and a game against Sweden on July 30. It will also take on Czechia on Aug. 1 as part of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup pre-tournament schedule<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mooseheads bench boss to serve as an Assistant Coach with Hockey Canada’s National U18 team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":57472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[202],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-57473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-202","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2026\/07\/08131058\/09-26-2025-HAL-vs-SNB-1117-scaled.jpg",2560,1703,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57473"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57475,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57473\/revisions\/57475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":57460,"date":"2026-06-30T12:02:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/?p=57460"},"modified":"2026-07-02T08:53:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:53:52","slug":"mooseheads-pick-austrian-star-paul-sintschnig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/lhjmq-mooseheads\/article\/mooseheads-pick-austrian-star-paul-sintschnig","title":{"rendered":"Mooseheads add two Austrians including star Paul Sintschnig"},"content":{"rendered":" 2026-06-30<\/p>\n The Halifax Mooseheads landed their targeted player in the CHL Import Draft on Tuesday when they selected Austrian centre Paul Sintschnig<\/a><\/span> second overall. The Herd traded up from 20th overall on Monday in a deal with Baie-Comeau to secure the talented 17-year-old.<\/p>\n Sintschnig will be entering his NHL Draft eligible season and played at several levels in 2025-26 including 32 games with Villacher SV of the ICEHL – the premier professional hockey league in Austria. He also suited up for Austria in the World Junior – Division 1A tournament. In total, Sintschnig scored 35 points in 64 games played.<\/p>\n The Klagenfurt, AUT native stands 6-foot-1, weighs 176 pounds and is a left-handed shot. He is known for his explosive skating and two-way play. He became one of the youngest players to debut for the Austrian senior national team at 16-years-old.<\/p>\n Draft Prospects Hockey described him as standing out for his effortless skating, smooth edgework, and quick pivots. Furthermore, he boasts high hockey IQ, makes intelligent plays across all three zones, and isn’t afraid to play physically.<\/p>\n GM Cam Russell went back to Austria to grab 19-year-old defenceman Nico Uschan<\/span><\/a>\u00a0with the 81st overall pick in the second round. Uschan and Sintschnig were teammates in the ICEHL with his hometown Villacher SV squad. The 6-foot-1 blueliner weighs 185 pounds and is a left-handed shot. Uschan will be looked upon to bring a steady, veteran presence to the backend for the Mooseheads.<\/p>\n With our second pick of the CHL Import Draft, we are proud to select 19-year-old defenceman Nico Uschan of Austria \ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf9<\/p>\n Nico was a teammate of 1st round pick Paul Sintschnig with Villacher SV #GoMooseGo<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/UdRRDeJoBR<\/a><\/p>\n — Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) June 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n