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Canada eliminated by Denmark at IIHF World Hockey Championship

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Cam Lewis | Last updated May 22, 2025 5:48 PM ET

Denmark stunned Canada with two goals late in the third period of Thursday’s quarter-final match at the World Hockey Championship, completing one of the biggest upsets ever seen at the tournament.

After two scoreless periods, Travis Sanheim of the Philadelphia Flyers opened the scoring for Canada five minutes into the third frame. Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets, the only active NHLer on Denmark’s roster, tied the game at 1-1 with just over two minutes on the clock. Not long after that, Nick Olesen put Denmark up 2-1 on the team’s 11th shot of the game.

The crowd at Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark erupted for what’ll go down as one of the most memorable moments in international hockey history.

GAME. CHANGER. Nick Olesen sends @dkishockey through! #MensWorlds #IIHF pic.twitter.com/en6PBK4F9I

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 22, 2025

The win puts Denmark into the medal round at the men’s World Hockey Championship for the first time in the nation’s history. They’ll play against Switzerland in the semi-finals on Saturday, while the United States will face Sweden in the other semi-final matchup.

Denmark, the co-host of this year’s tournament with Sweden, finished the group stage with a 3-1-3-0 record. They earned the fourth spot in Group B with a shootout victory over Germany earlier this week and advanced to the playoffs as the fourth seed.

Canada plowed through Group A with a 6-0-0-1 record, their only blemish being a shootout loss to Finland. They finished in first place in the group and were expected to cruise through Denmark, an opponent who’s never finished higher than eighth place at the tournament and qualified for the top level for the first time in 2003.

Since Canada had the best group stage record of the teams knocked out of the quarter-finals, they finished fifth in the tournament standings, which is the country’s worst result at the World Hockey Championship since 2014.

This is an incredible victory for Denmark, who lost 47-0 to the Canadian men’s national team in the country’s first-ever international hockey game in 1949. Denmark has an opportunity to earn their first medal at the World Hockey Championship this spring before playing in their second-ever Olympic Games in February of 2026.

This article first appeared on Oilersnation and was syndicated with permission.

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