Drumheller, AB – Will McLaughlin had quite the showing at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky U18 Cup as he played a major role for Team USA in their path to a gold medal win!
Team USA kicked off the tournament with a 6-3 win over Slovakia where McLaughlin picked up an assist on the powerplay. They then followed that up with a loss to Sweden and a big win over Germany to set the stage for a semi-finals matchup against Team Canada. They won that game in a shootout by a score of 4-3 and set up a rematch against Team Sweden. McLaughlin added another assist in the gold medal game while playing on both the powerplay and penalty kill and helped them to a 5-3 win! It was Team USA’s first gold medal at the Hlinka Gretzky since 2003.
McLaughlin, the Colorado College commit, is set to head to the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL for the upcoming season.
We would like to congratulate Will on an incredible tournament and for making the Dragons proud, being the only AJHL player in the tournament!
