Over the weekend, Calgary Flames blueline prospect Mace’o Phillips completed a full set of medals.

On Saturday, at the Junior A World Challenge, Phillips was part of the United States Junior Select Team that captured the gold medal. Team USA beat Canada West by a 5-1 score to cement their championship at the tournament.

Phillips had one assist (and eight penalty minutes) over five games at the event. He was one of six NHL draftees on the American roster, along with goaltender Caleb Heil (Tampa Bay), and forwards Jackson Crowder (Washington), Carter Sanderson (Pittsburgh), Ashton Schultz (Buffalo) and Brent Solomon (Detroit). 2026 NHL Draft eligible forward Evan Jardine of the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms led the USA in scoring with seven assists over five games.

Held every December, the Junior A World Challenge is a four team international event featuring two Canadian junior A teams (Canada West and Canada East), a USA Hockey selections team, and the Swedish national under-18 team head-to-head for supremacy. While the World Juniors, held a few weeks later, features the top under-20 players from major junior leagues around the world, the Junior A World Challenge pits some of the top under-19 players from those four countries.

Yeah, winning the Junior A Challenge is less impressive than winning the World Juniors, but it’s still pretty impressive. Flames prospect Trevor Hoskin was named the tournament’s most valuable player two years ago.

With gold at the Junior A Challenge, Phillips has completed a full set of medals at international events with USA Hockey. He won silver at the Under-17 World Challenge in 2023-24 and bronze at the Under-18 World Championship in 2024-25. A third-round selection by the Flames in the 2025 NHL Draft, Phillips is a large (6’6″, 234 pounds), physical, stay-at-home defender.

After two seasons in the U.S. National Development program, Phillips joined the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers, where he has four points in 17 games so far this season. He’ll be headed to the University of Minnesota for the 2026-27 season.

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