After a shocking loss to Norway on Sunday, Team Canada will miss the podium for the second straight year at the IIHF World Championship
After what was a disappointing loss to eventual World Champions in Team Finland during the semi-final round, things only went downhill on Sunday for Team Canada.
And for the second year in a row, a major upset prevented them from even medaling at the IIHF World Championship.
On Sunday, the Canadians fell to Norway, 3-2, in overtime to end the bronze medal game one year after being upset by Denmark in the quarterfinal round during the 2025 World Championship. The win by Norway gave them their first-ever medal at the IIHF World Championship, and it is also the fourth-straight international tournament in which Team Canada failed to bring home a gold medal, as they also fell short during the 2026 Wintner Olympic Games, the 2026 World Junior Championship, and 2025 Worlds.
Pittsburgh Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby was held pointless on Sunday, and he finished the tournament with a goal and 10 points in 10 games, which was good enough for second on Team Canada behind only Macklin Celebrini.
Norway - a team without an NHL player on it - came away with the only goal of the first period from Emilio Pettersen despite the team getting outshot, 17-9, by Canada, as Norwegian netminder Henrik Haukeland was up to the task. Norway also scored the second goal of the game in a much more evenly played middle frame, which was potted by Stian Solberg.
But Canada wouldn't fully go away — and, more specifically, Robert Thomas wasn't going anywhere. They peppered Norway and dominated the period with a 20-6 shots advantage, and Thomas finally broke through with 1:16 to go in regulation to cut Norway's lead in half. Then, it was also Thomas who came through with just eight seconds remaining on the clock to tie the game and force overtime.
However, Norwegian forward Noah Steen scored on Norway's lone shot of the extra frame three minutes and 32 seconds in to give them the dramatic overtime victory and knock Canada off the podium.
Ultimately, Haukeland was the difference in this one, as he allowed just two goals on 46 shots and kept Canada at bay until the very end of regulation. Norway joined gold medal-winning Finland and Switzerland - the silver medalists - on the IIHF podium.
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