5 Flames remain active in Thursday’s IIHF World Championship quarterfinals

The round robin is in the rear-view mirror at the 2025 IIHF men’s World Championship and now we’re onto the elimination round. One of the eight surviving teams will be this year’s World Champion.

The quarterfinals trim things down to four remaining teams on Thursday.

Here’s what to expect. (All times MT.)

Switzerland vs. Austria (8:20 a.m., TSN1)

Switzerland went 6-0-1-0 in the round robin, with their lone blemish being an overtime loss to Czechia in their very first game. They finished first in Group B.

Austria went 2-2-0-3 in the round robin, losing in regulation to Finland, Sweden and Canada and finishing fourth in Group A. (They needed the shootout to beat Slovakia and Slovenia, but they came through in those games and managed to make the quarterfinals.)

Switzerland should probably be favoured her. They’ve gone on a really nice run during round-robin play and have a stronger roster than Austria.

United States vs. Finland (8:20 a.m., TSN4)

The USA went 5-1-0-1 in the round robin, with their lone regulation loss coming against the Swiss. They finished second in Group B.

Finland went 4-2-0-1 in the round robin, with their only regulation loss being against Sweden. They finished third in Group A.

This could be the most competitive quarterfinal of the four. The USA has a pretty impressive lineup and a nice mix of youth and experience, but the Finns seemingly always step up in these types of hockey games. We’ll give a slight edge to the Americans, but this could go either way.

Canada vs. Denmark (12:20 p.m., TSN1)

Canada went 6-0-1-0 in the round robin, with their only blemish being an overtime loss to Finland. They finished first in Group A.

Denmark went 3-1-0-3 in the round robin, losing in regulation to the United States, Switzerland and Czechia. They finished fourth in Group B, beating out Germany for the last spot in the quarters.

Flames blueliner MacKenzie Weegar has one assist and is plus-8 through seven games, playing with Noah Dobson on Canada’s second pairing.

Canada should definitely be favoured in this game based on the relative strengths of the two rosters.

Sweden vs. Czechia (12:20 p.m., TSN4)

Sweden went 6-0-0-1 in the round robin, with their only regulation loss coming against Canada. They finished second in Group A.

Czechis went 5-1-0-1 in the round robin, losing in regulation to the United States. They were third in Group B.

Get ready to feel conflicted, Flames fans, as there are representatives from the local club on both teams:

• Rasmus Andersson (two goals, two assists, plus-5) captains Sweden and plays on their top pairing. Mikael Backlund (one goal, four assists, plus-6) centres their second line.
• Adam Klapka (two goals, one assist, plus-2) has been on Czechia’s third line. Dan Vladar (3-0, 1.00 GAA, .952 SV%) is likely Karel Vejmelka’s backup, as the Utah netminder had slightly more starts than Vladar – four to Vladar’s three.

This could be a pretty close game, but Czechia likely doesn’t have the firepower to overcome Sweden’s deep, deep roster.

What do you expect to see at the IIHF Worlds quarterfinals?