Roed hat trick lifts Team USA into Hlinka Gretzky Cup final

Nash Roed scored three times and Gavin Burcar added a goal and two assists as Team USA beat Slovakia 5-2 in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup semifinal Friday in Edmonton, Alberta. The win sent the Americans into the championship game and gave Roed a signature night on one of junior hockey’s most watched stages.

The score told the story quickly. Slovakia was the kind of opponent that can drag a favorite into trouble if it is given space, but Team USA answered with enough early offense to control the game and never had to chase the result. Roed’s hat trick removed any late pressure, while Burcar kept stacking points in a tournament where he has already shown he can tilt a game in more than one way.

That combination matters for a U.S. team built on depth as much as headline talent. Burcar opened the tournament with a hat trick in a 6-4 win over Czechia and followed it with another multi-point effort against Slovakia, finishing with four goals and two assists across those two games. For a short-event national team, that kind of repeat production stands out because it shows a player can score, distribute and carry responsibility when the margins tighten.

Roed’s night carried a different kind of weight. NHL.com noted that the forward will not be eligible for the NHL Draft until 2028, which makes a three-goal semifinal far more than a box score flourish. It was a public statement that his offensive game already translates against top international competition, and it gives USHL fans a clearer baseline for what to watch when he returns to league play: finishing touch, confidence on the puck and the ability to seize a game when the stakes rise.

The title game was set for Saturday at 5 p.m. MT, 7 p.m. ET, and will air on NHL Network. That came after a tournament run in Edmonton that began Aug. 3 and has used Rogers Place and the Downtown Community Arena for preliminary-round games.

USA Hockey traces the Hlinka Gretzky Cup back to 1991, when the event began under a different name before becoming the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2018. In that context, Friday’s semifinal was more than a win over Slovakia. It was the kind of international breakout that can reset expectations for a prospect before his next USHL season even begins.