The preliminary round is over at the 2025 IIHF men’s World Championship, and the quarterfinals of the tournament are set for Thursday, May 22.
Here are all the matchups to watch out for and some key players as the World Championship gets closer to the May 25 gold medal game.
Canada Vs. Denmark
2:20 p.m. ET
Canada comes in as the heavy favorites going into this game against Denmark.
The Canadians finished as the No. 1 seed in Group A, winning six out of their seven games. Despite one shootout loss against Finland, for the most part, Canada has breezed past the competition in what has been a dominant performance through this tournament thus far.
Led by the likes of Sidney Crosby (11 points), Nathan MacKinnon (13) and Travis Konecny (12) among a roster filled with NHL talent, Canada is a force to be reckoned with.
Meanwhile, Denmark squeaked into the quarterfinals after an emotional shootout victory over Germany in the last game of the preliminary round.
Aside from Nikolaj Ehlers, Denmark has no other notable NHL players on their roster. However, they will be playing in front of their home crowd in Herning, which should count for some sort of advantage.
Switzerland Vs. Austria
10:20 a.m. ET
This matchup could be closer than many people may think.
Switzerland has been one of the biggest surprises of the tournament. They beat the USA and Czechia to claim the top seed in Group B.
Headlining the runner-ups at the World Championship last year are Timo Meier (seven points), Kevin Fiala (seven), Nino Niederreiter (one in one game) and J.J. Moser (five).
The only NHL player Austria has is Marco Kasper (seven), but this team plays a hard-nosed, physical game.
They’ve been able to take advantage of the bottom-feeders of Group A while holding their own against some of the top teams in the tournament.
USA Vs. Finland
10:20 a.m. ET
The Americans come to Stockholm, Sweden, and have a date with the Finns.
Similar to Canada, the USA has a roster filled with NHL stars, including Zach Werenski (four points in four games), Clayton Keller (nine points in seven games) and Tage Thompson (seven in seven). Leading the team in scoring, however, is 21-year-old Chicago Blackhawks center Frank Nazar, who has 11 points.
The USA finished second in Group B, just behind Switzerland.
While Finland is missing some premier talent from the NHL, goalie Juuse Saros has made up for that. He’s helped put Finland in this position to compete for a gold medal, with a 4-1-0 record. .959 save percentage and 1.19 goals-against average.
Finland finished as the third seed in Group A behind Canada and Sweden.
Something to watch out for in this game is the individual goalie matchup between Saros and Jeremy Swayman, who went 4-0-0 with a 1.97 GAA and .893 SP in the round-robin.
Sweden Vs. Czechia
2:20 p.m. ET
This matchup is arguably the hardest to predict out of the four quarterfinal games.
Playing in Stockholm, the host Swedes will get a little boost, and they also have the talent to compete with any team in the tournament.
Led by Jacob Markstrom (.910 SP and 1.53 GAA), Filip Forsberg (three points), Elias Lindholm (11), Lucas Raymond (eight), Leo Carlsson (six) and many other NHL players, Sweden nearly came away with a perfect record, only losing to Canada. But now, they're getting William Nylander after the Toronto Maple Leafs lost in the second round, and he'll provide another boost of skill and scoring.
Czechia, which received David Kampf from the Leafs, won the gold medal at the World Championship last year, and the team has a decent shot at defending its title.
The superstar duo of David Pastrnak (14 points) and Martin Necas (six) makes this Czechia team a threat, and it certainly should not be taken lightly.
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