A towering hockey player from Townsend is hoping to play on a big stage next month.

Kaiden Donia, a 6-6, 198-pound defenseman, has been selected to camp in an attempt to make the U.S. team which will compete at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Aug. 11-16 in Czechia and Slovakia.

Donia will bid to make the 23-roster which will represent the U.S. Also sending talented teams to the tournament are Canada, Czechia, Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland. Many of the top under-18 players in the world will showcase their skills.

The selection camp will be held July 28-Aug. 3 in Plymouth, Mich. Of the 38 players invited, 21 have committed to a college, but Donia has yet to make a college commitment. Donia is the only player from Massachusetts to receive an invitation to the camp.

The 17-year-old has starred the last three winters for the Groton School. In 28 games last season, he scored five goals and added 12 assists. He also played 27 games for the East Coast Militia team, posting a 2-9-11 line.

Donia also played two games for the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League. He was selected by the Stars in the second round of the 2024 USHL Phase I Draft with the 19th overall pick.

He played for Team Royal last year at the Select 16 camp.

Pro hockey: Former UMass Lowell player Terrence Wallin is now one step from coaching in the National Hockey League.

The 33-year-old Wallin has been hired as an assistant coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League. The Phantoms are the top minor league team of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Wallin served as the head coach of the ECHL’s Maine Mariners for the past three seasons and was the team’s general manager since April 2023 as well. He led the Mariners to playoff appearances in 2023 and 2024.

At UMass Lowell, Wallin was a part of Hockey East championship teams in 2013 and 2014. A native of Yardley, Pa., he forged a five-year professional career which saw him skate for teams in the SPHL, ECHL and AHL.

Auto racing: Three local drivers finished in the top 10 during a recent New England Supermodified Series 50-lap race at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H.

Matt Swanson of Harvard drove to victory. He defeated a field that included runner-up Jeffrey Battle of Dunstable and ninth-place driver Russ Wood of Pelham, N.H.

Pro football: The Massachusetts Pirates have made a nice late-season run to reach the Indoor Football League playoffs, winning five of their last seven games.

But the Pirates (7-8) will be eliminated from playoff contention if they lose Friday to a powerful Green Bay Blizzard (9-5) squad on the road at the Resch Center in Wisconsin and Tulsa wins.

The Pirates are coming off a tough 35-28 double-overtime loss at Tulsa. Green Bay is averaging a league-best 51.7 points per game and quarterback Max Meylor is having an outstanding season. He leads the IFL with 48 passing touchdowns and has also scored 23 times on rushes.

Massachusetts allows only 196.2 yards per game, which leads the league. The Pirates will close the regular season by hosting Bay Area on Friday, July 25.

Originally Published: July 17, 2025 at 4:32 PM EDT