The 2025 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup came to an end this weekend, and awarded the Gold Medal to our Edmonton Oil Kings defenseman Noa Ta’amu and all of Team USA after a fantastic weekend of elimination hockey. Starting with a thrilling Shootout against Canada on Friday, and culminating in a fitting retribution game against Sweden in the finals. Ta’amu had himself a solid week of International Hockey and now heads home as a champion, with his eyes set on the WHL’s Ed Cheynoweth Cup.
Here, I’m going to break down what I saw from Ta’amu’s game through the Semi-Finals and Finals. Starting with the Canada game, then going through the Sweden game, before wrapping it all into a final thought of his overall tournament performance.
Canada Contained, Victory Secured
The rivalry between USA Hockey and Hockey Canada needs no introduction, anyone familiar with hockey in North America understands that at any level this matchup is a heavyweight bout. This Hlinka-Gretzky tournament edition did not disappoint as it provided thrilling saves, highlight goals, a little bit of a physical edge and a whole lot of skilled players on display. Noa Ta’amu established himself as one of those skilled players, but not in the same flashy ways that others did. He did what he has done throughout the tournament, and played a fantastic shutdown game.
USA jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, and Ta’amu’s first big minutes came immediately after when he was called upon to weather the Canadian push back. His positioning in this game was magnificent, he always knew where to be at the right time and negated numerous opportunities. On this initial push back it included a block on a chance for Canada’s star Landon DuPont, and then shortly afterwards he took away another Canada opportunity by positioning himself to intercept a pass from Allesandro Di Iorio.
On the first Penalty Kill of the game, Ta’amu again was in the right place to lift the stick of Canada’s Liam Ruck just in time to prevent him from sending a rebound chance into the back of the net. Late in the 1st Period, Ta’amu got himself into a little trouble as he got caught in the neutral zone with a stretch pass from Canada and ended up taking a tripping call when he found himself chasing the play. Luckily, no harm no foul, USA killed the penalty and Ta’amu gets back safely.
Canada tied the game at 1 just 34 seconds into the second period, Ta’amu again not on the ice for this. He is, however, involved in putting USA back in front midway through the second. On an extended offensive zone cycle, Ta’amu was playing back as the last defender to protect against any Canada breakout. A lackluster clearing attempt from Canada rolls towards the blueline and Noa makes the smart play to pinch up and play the puck instead of retreating. That pinch at the line keeps the play onside and immediately rewards USA with the 2-1 Goal. Ta’amu unfortunately does not get an assist, as it ended up being a tic-tac-toe play from Penner, to Rogowski, to Puchner, into the net, but he does get another plus onto his plus-minus for the tournament. Late in the second, Canada’s Dupont takes a Delay of Game Penalty and USA quickly scores on the Powerplay to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
The third period was rough, as Canada really turned on the heat and pressured USA throughout. They had been a third period team throughout the tournament, having scored 14 third period goals through their 3 preliminary games, so Team USA knew it wasn’t going to be an easy finish to this one.
The 2nd Canada goal was a tough one for Ta’amu, who otherwise had a terrific game. Noa has done such a wonderful job of keeping his goaltenders’ sight lines clear, yet on this one his man was allowed to stand unbothered directly in front of Knowling. Liam Ruck found his spot just outside the blue paint, Tynan Lawrence stepped off the side boards and roofed a shot that Brady Knowling had no chance of seeing.
The silver lining is that after that goal I saw some of the best hockey of Ta’amu’s tournament. On his very next shift, Mathis Preston tried to take him on 1-on-1 and Noa stepped up to shut him down instantly. Mere seconds later, Preston was chasing a stretch pass into the USA zone and Ta’amu locked up the Canadian forward to prevent any opportunity. Next chance up the ice for Preston, he sees Ta’amu back defending so decides he’s going to try to send a pass over to Dimian Zhilkin this time, but Noa pokes the puck off Zhilkins stick to silence the threat. 3 consecutive Canada chances with Ta’amu as a the lone USA Defender between Canada and his goalie, and all 3 times he shuts it down with ease.
Mathis Preston in particular was extremely dangerous through the third period, and Noa Ta’amu was up to the task each and every time. Late in the period, however, Preston managed to get a rare shift without Ta’amu there to get in his way, and he takes advantage with a snipe through Knowling to tie the game at 3. The game headed to overtime and eventually a shootout, but Ta’amu did not get any shifts in the extra time. All 3 USA shooters in the shootout scored, and Mathis Preston was the only Canadian to score on his shootout attempt, sending Ta’amu and the Americans to the Finals.
Quiet Strength, Golden Finish
Team USA and Team Sweden facing off in the finals, each team had only won this tournament one time in the past. Sweden in 2007, and USA in 2003, so either way it’s a second championship for the winner. Noa Ta’amu quietly had himself a solid game, playing over 18 minutes of shutdown hockey and never getting caught out of place. He was not on the ice for any American goals, and the only Sweden goal he was caught for was during a 5-on-3 penalty kill.
Sweden established themselves very early with a 1-0 goal only 10 seconds into the game. Elton Hermansson walks in and fires a shot from the faceoff dot that surprises Knowling to put the Americans in an early hole.30 seconds later, Sweden takes the first of what would become a parade to the penalty box for them through this game. 7 seconds after that penalty expires, Levi Harper finds some space to work with and takes a shot from the top of the right circle to tie this game up at 1
Ta’amu gets in for the following shift after the goal, he steadies the American D zone, and presents no opportunities for any Swedish threats to develop before Sweden takes another penalty to put Team USA back on the powerplay. This time, it doesn’t take long for the Americans to capitalize. Jack Hextall finds himself in nearly the identical spot that Harper scored from, and throws a puck towards the net. This time, however, it finds Noah Davidson parked at the side of the goal who redirects it into the wide open net to quickly put themselves up 2-1 only 4 minutes into the game.
A pinball point shot from Hampus Zirath draws Sweden even at 2’s before another penalty and a laser shot from Jack Hextall in the slot puts Team USA back in front. Yet another penalty for Sweden in the final minute of the period leaves them shorthanded to start the second and Team USA again makes them pay with Nikita Klepov this time being the one to put it in the back of the net. After this goal made it 4-2, Sweden actually looked more disciplined and stayed out of the penalty box for most of the second period.
Team USA got themselves in some penalty trouble midway through the second, and Ta’amu was his steady reliable self for most of it. Unfortunately, after Kade Meyer was called for a highly questionable “Tripping” penalty, Levi Harper also took a more traditional tripping call with 9 seconds remaining on the first penalty, to put USA into a 5-on-3 situation. Ta’amu took the ice with Zaide Penner and Brooks Ragowski for that penalty kill, but Ragowski lost the faceoff clean. All 3 Americans went to their positions in the traditional 3 man triangle formation, but Sweden was too quick with their puck movement. They swung it from the left faceoff circle, behind the net, and out front to Elton Hermansson who finished off a passing exhibit with a one timer that neither Ta’amu nor Ragowski had time to react to despite both of them being in the correct positions.
In the third period, Team Sweden did their best to mount any kind of attack and sustain any kind of pressure but the American defense held fast. Despite extended shifts in the offensive zone, including hemming USA’s #1 line into their own zone for what seemed like the first and only time of the entire tournament, Sweden could only manage 7 shots on goal in the third period and eventually Team USA added one more to solidify the 5-3 Final.
While Ta’amu shone through in the Canada game and was visibly involved in numerous plays where he actively disrupted the Canadian attackers, the Sweden game was much more of an overall team effort. Ta’amu never really stood out for any particular play, instead he was just quietly reliable and always in the right place. He never got beat, never turned the puck over, and never put himself in vulnerable positions. He kept the net front clear, he bodied any Swedish players who tried to take space in front of Knowling, and was always quicker to react to loose pucks than his opponents. This is what Ta’amu brought to Team USA, and this is what he’s bringing home to Edmonton alongside a new shiny Gold Medall.
Final Tournament Thoughts
I went into this year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament with very high hopes for Noa Ta’amu. I looked at his stats on paper from his U14 AAA season in Los Angeles, and his U15 year in the CSSHL, and thought that meant Noa would be someone who could put up high point totals and could shine in a best on best tournament if given the opportunity. Game 1 disappointed me, but then I realized that the problem was my own expectations.
Noa did shine in this tournament in his own way. In Game 1, it looked like he felt the same that I did about his game, that he needed to be an offensive threat to stand out among all of the talent on that team. He jumped up in plays, he tried to make quick transitions and pinch up a little bit more, but he also got caught in his own zone on a couple goals that seemed like they maybe humbled him a bit.
He came out for Game 2 as a changed player. He set up his office in front of his own goaltender, and made it obvious that he has a closed door policy. If you try to enter his office, and harass his goalie, you will have the door slammed in your face. Game 3 against Germany saw him rewarded in the plus-minus column for his defensive reliability as he continued to embrace this Defense first role.
The Semi-Finals against Canada was truly his shining moment, and something to consider and look forward to in the coming WHL Season. Numerous opportunities for a projected 2026 Top 10 Draft pick, Mathis Preston, were quietly eliminated by none other than our own Noa Ta’amu to maintain Team USA’s 3rd period lead and it was only while Ta’amu was on the bench that Preston managed to break through. Preston is a Spokane Chiefs player, so circle October 21st on your calendars as Preston and the Chiefs will come into Rogers Place for a rematch of this USA/Canada battle.
All things considered, Ta’amu showed a lot of growth and maturity in this tournament. I give a lot of credit to the coaches on Team USA, as it appears there was some in tournament coaching for sure that helped Ta’amu understand what they wanted from him and helped him find his home. It was a highly entertaining tournament to watch, and a very insightful look into the future of the Edmonton Oil Kings defense.
We now look ahead to training camp, and the Bob McGill Cup on August 31st. Keep checking back on Shotgun Sports Network as we will continue to keep you up to date on all things Edmonton Oil Kings!