Atlantic Youth Hockey League

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Two former AYHL players were among the 23 selected to join the U-18 Select Men’s Team at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Břeclav, Czechia and Trenčín, Slovakia starting July 31. New Jersey Colonials teammates Callum Hughes and John McNelis will travel to Europe and take the ice for international competition with Team USA.

Hughes had a long career with the Colonials, joining the AYHL 10U Minor team back in the 2015-2016 season. In his final season with the league, we recorded a total of 40 points across 17 games. This upcoming season he is slated to play with the West Kelowna Warriors of the British Columbia Hockey League before heading to Boston University the following year.

McNelis started playing in the AYHL as a 12U during the 2017-2018 season. He first played for Team Maryland before moving to the New Jersey Colonials. In his final season in the league, he accumulated 43 points in 17 games. This past season, he played three games with the Sioux Falls Stampede of the United States Hockey League. He’s slated to join the bench at Boston University with his former teammate for the 2025-2026 season.

The NHL network will be televising all U.S games in the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup. Team USA is set to take the ice for the first time on July 31 against Czechia at 1 p.m. ET.