There’s lots of Flames representation at the 2025 IIHF World Championship

While the Stanley Cup playoffs rage on across North America, another prominent tournament kicks off in Europe on Friday in the form of the IIHF men’s World Championship.

The event pits 16 countries against each other for international hockey supremacy, and is a pretty wacky tournament in that every national team is fairly cobbled together based on which players from around the world are available and/or healthy at the end of their club team’s season. This year’s edition takes on a bit of additional importance because it’s the final IIHF men’s tournament before the 2026 Olympic hockey tournament in Italy this coming February.

The Calgary Flames may have missed out on the NHL’s post-season, but there are several Flames players representing their countries at this year’s Worlds.

Here’s what you need to know about this year’s event, unfolding in Stockholm, Sweden and Herning, Denmark over the next few weeks.

The teams

Group A

Austria

• IIHF Ranking: 13th
• 2024 Worlds: 10th
• NHLers: F Marco Kasper (DET)
• Prospects: D Gregor Biber (UTM), F Vinzenz Rohrer (MTL)

Canada

• IIHF Ranking: 1st
• 2024 Worlds: 4th
• NHLers: basically everyone
• Prospects:  G Dylan Garard (NYR)

Finland

• IIHF Ranking: 3rd
• 2024 Worlds: 8th
• NHLers: G Justus Annunen (NSH), G Juuse Saros (NSH), D Nikolas Matinpalo (OTT), F Juuso Parssinen (NYR), F Teuvo Teravainen (CHI), F Eeli Tolvanen (SEA)
• Prospects: D Atro Leppainen (EDM), F Waltteri Merela (TBL/RFA)

France

• IIHF Ranking: 14th
• 2024 Worlds: 14th
• NHLers: F Alexandre Texier (STL)
• Prospects: G Antoine Keller (WSH)

Latvia

• IIHF Ranking: 10th
• 2024 Worlds: 9th
• NHLers: none
• Prospects: F Dans Locmelis (BOS), F Eduards Tralmaks (DET), F Martins Dzierkals (VGK)

Slovakia

• IIHF Ranking: 9th
• 2024 Worlds: 7th
• NHLers: none
• Prospects: G Samuel Hlavaj (MIN), D Samuel Knazko (CBJ), D Patrik Koch (UTM), F Martin Chromiak (LAK), F Dalibor Dvorsky (STL), F Samuel Honzek (CGY), F Pavol Regenda (SJS), F Adam Sykora (NYR)

Slovenia

• IIHF Ranking: 19th
• 2024 Worlds: finished 1st in Division 1A, earned promotion to Championship division
• NHLers: none
• Prospects: D Jan Golicic (TBL)

Sweden

• IIHF Ranking: 7th
• 2024 Worlds: bronze medal
• NHLers: almost everyone
• Prospects: none

Group B

Czechia

• IIHF Ranking: 4th
• 2024 Worlds: gold medal
• NHLers: G Dan Vladar (CGY), D Filip Hronzek (VAN), F Jakub Lauko (BOS), F Martin Necas (COL), F David Pastrnak (BOS)
• Prospects: D David Spacek (MIN), F Adam Klapka (CGY)

Denmark

• IIHF Ranking: 11th
• 2024 Worlds: 13th
• NHLers: none
• Prospects: F Oscar Fisker Molgaard (SEA)

Germany

• IIHF Ranking: 8th
• 2024 Worlds: 6th
• NHLers: G Philipp Grubauer (SEA), D Moritz Seider (DET), F Lukas Reichel (CHI)
• Prospects: G Arno Tiefensee (DAL), D Maksymillian Szuber (UTM), F Josh Samamski (EDM)

Hungary

• IIHF Ranking: 18th
• 2024 Worlds: finished 2nd in Division 1A, earned promotion to Championship division
• NHLers: none
• Prospects: none

Kazakhstan

• IIHF Ranking: 15th
• 2024 Worlds: 12th
• NHLers: none
• Prospects: none

Norway

• IIHF Ranking: 12th
• 2024 Worlds: 11th
• NHLers: none
• Prospects: D Stian Solberg (ANA), F Noah Steen (TBL)

Switzerland

• IIHF Ranking: 5th
• 2024 Worlds: silver medal
• NHLers: D Janis Moser (TBL), D Jonas Siegenthaler (NJD), F Nico Hischier (NJD), F Timo Meier (NJD)
• Prospects: D Tim Berni (CBJ), F Simon Knak (NSH)

United States

• IIHF Ranking: 6th
• 2024 Worlds: 5th
• NHLers: almost everyone
• Prospects: D Zeev Buium (MIN), D Cole Hutson (WSH), F Brett Berard (NYR), F Isaac Howard (TBL)

The Flames

Six Flames players are playing in the tournament!

D MacKenzie Weegar, Canada	2nd Worlds (won gold in 2023) Other experience: 2011 WJAC
F Sam Honzek, Slovakia	1st Worlds Senior international debut Other experience: 2021 Hlinka, 2022 D1 U18s, 2022, 2023 & 2024 WJC
F Mikael Backlund, Sweden	6th Worlds (won gold in 2018) Other experience: 2006 Hlinka, 2006 & 2008 U18s, 2008 & 2009 WJC, 2006 World Cup
D Rasmus Andersson, Sweden	1st Worlds Other experience: 2013 Hlinka, 2013 & 2014 U18s, 2024 4 Nations Face-Off
F Adam Klapka, Czechia	1st Worlds Senior international debut Other experience: 2019 WJAC
G Dan Vladar, Czechia	1st Worlds Senior international debut Other experience: 2013 U17s, 2014 Hlinka, 2014 & 2015 U18s, 2015, 2016 & 2017 WJC

The schedule

All times MT. Games with Flames players bolded.

May 9: Austria/Finland (8:20 a.m., TSN1), Switzerland/Czechia (8:20 a.m., TSN4), Sweden/Slovakia (12:20 p.m., TSN1), Denmark/United States (12:20 p.m., TSN4)

May 10: Slovenia/Canada (4:20 a.m., TSN1/4), Norway/Kazakhstan (4:20 a.m., TSN2), Sweden/Austria (8:20 a.m., TSN1), Germany/Hungary (8:20 a.m., TSN4), France/Latvia (12:20 p.m., TSN+), Denmark/Switzerland (12:20 p.m., TSN2)

May 11: Slovakia/Slovenia (4:20 a.m., TSN1), United States/Hungary (4:20 a.m., TSN4), Latvia/Canada (8:20 a.m., TSN1/4), Germany/Kazakhstan (8:20 a.m., TSN+), Finland/France (12:20 p.m., TSN4), Norway/Czechia (12:20 p.m., TSN2)

May 12: Austria/Slovakia (8:20 a.m., TSN1), United States/Switzerland (8:20 a.m., TSN4), Finland/Sweden (12:20 p.m., TSN1), Czechia/Denmark (12:20 p.m., TSN4)

May 13: Slovenia/Latvia (8:20 a.m., TSN1), Norway/Germany (8:20 a.m., TSN4), Canada/France (12:20 p.m., TSN1/4), Kazakhstan/Hungary (12:20 p.m., TSN3)

May 14: Slovakia/France (8:20 a.m., TSN1), United States/Norway (8:20 a.m., TSN4), Latvia/Sweden (12:20 p.m., TSN1), Kazakhstan/Denmark (12:20 p.m., TSN4)

May 15: Finland/Slovenia (8:20 a.m., TSN1), Switzerland/Germany (8:20 a.m., TSN3), Canada/Austria (12:20 p.m., TSN1/3), Czechia/Hungary (12:20 p.m., TSN+)

May 16: Austria/France (8:20 a.m., TSN1), Hungary/Denmark (8:20 a.m., TSN3), Sweden/Slovenia (12:20 p.m., TSN1), Switzerland/Norway (12:20 p.m., TSN3)

May 17: Finland/Latvia (4:20 a.m., TSN1), United States/Germany (4:20 a.m., TSN3), France/Sweden (8:20 a.m., TSN1), Czechia/Kazakhstan (8:20 a.m., TSN3), Canada/Slovakia (12:20 p.m., TSN1/3), Denmark/Norway (12:20 p.m., TSN2)

May 18: Slovenia/Austria (8:20 a.m., TSN3), Kazakhstan/United States (8:20 a.m., TSN1), Slovakia/Latvia (12:20 p.m., TSN3), Hungary/Switzerland (12:20 p.m., TSN+)

May 19: France/Slovenia (8:20 a.m., TSN1), Germany/Czechia (8:20 a.m., TSN4), Canada/Finland (12:20 p.m., TSN1/4), Hungary/Norway (12:20 p.m., TSN2)

May 20: Latvia/Austria (4:20 a.m., TSN1), Switzerland/Kazakhstan (4:20 a.m., TSN4), Slovakia/Finland (8:20 a.m., TSN1), Czechia/United States (8:20 a.m., TSN4), Sweden/Canada (12:20 p.m., TSN1/4), Germany/Denmark (12:20 p.m., TSN2)

The top 4 teams in each group advance to the quarterfinal round. The next three teams don’t make the medal round but remain in the tournament. The last-place team in each group is relegated to Division 1A for next year’s tournament.

May 22: quarterfinals

May 24: semi-finals

May 25: medal games

(We’ll update with the schedule for the medal around when it becomes available.)

Who are you excited to see at the World Championship?