Red Deer Rebels forward Ollie Josephson (#17) fights for the puck in a game against Kelowna this past season. (Red Deer Rebels/Rob Wallator)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

making a name for himself

Rebels forward Ollie Josephson named to 2023 Hlinka Gretzky squad

Jul 13, 2023 | 11:08 AM

Up and coming Red Deer Rebels forward Ollie Josephson is headed to Europe for the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

Josephson is one of eight WHL players named to the Canadian squad for this year’s edition of the tournament, which runs July 31 to August 5 in Trenčín, Slovakia and Břeclav, Czechia.

The 2022-23 Rebels Rookie of the Year collected 19 points in 63 games last season, and was one of the team’s top faceoff takers and a solid penalty killer during his freshman campaign.

Turning 17 on July 22, Josephson is the 19th Rebel to play in this tournament, the most recent one being Kalan Lind, who won gold at the Centrium last summer.

Prior to the start of the tournament, Team Canada will practice in Budapest, Hungary from July 23 to 27, and will face off against Hungary’s national under-20 team on July 27 at 10:30 p.m. MT. It will also take on Czechia on July 29 at 10:30 a.m. MT in Břeclav as a part of its pre-tournament schedule.

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Canada will open the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup against Finland on July 31 at 7:30 a.m. MT. It will also face co-host Slovakia and Switzerland in the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the medal games on Aug. 5.

The Hlinka Gretzky Cup was held in Edmonton and Red Deer in 2018, then was cancelled for the same cities in 2020, and Red Deer hosted it solo in 2022.

Canada has won gold 23 of the 31 years the tournament has been held.

The entire Canadian roster and tournament schedule can be found here.

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