It’s on to the playoff round for Canada’s National Men’s Team, which takes on Slovakia in the first quarterfinal Thursday at the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Prague.

Last Game

Canada closed a out a perfect preliminary round Tuesday with an absolute thriller against the host Czechs, getting a pair of goals from Dylan Cozens – including a shorthanded overtime winner – in a 4-3 victory. Dawson Mercer and Brandon Hagel had the other Canadian goals in a game that saw six goals scored in a span of 17 minutes of the third period.

The Slovaks wrapped up the round-robin portion of their schedule with a 6-1 loss to Sweden on Tuesday. Michal Ivan scored the lone goal, while Stanislav Skorvanek finished with 37 saves as Slovakia dropped its second in a row.

Last Meeting

Canada and Slovakia went all the way to Round 8 of a shootout a year ago in the prelims in Riga, before Jack Quinn scored and Samuel Montembeault turned aside Martin Chromiak to secure a 2-1 win for the Canadians. Jake Neighbours scored the lone goal in regulation for Canada, which peppered Samuel Hlavaj with 44 shots through 65 minutes but needed a Michael Carcone goal in Round 5 to stay alive before Quinn got the winner.

What to Watch

How about John Tavares? The Canadian captain arrived in Czechia just as the tournament began and has slid seamlessly into the lineup. His eight points (1-7—8) are second-most among Canadian skaters, trailing only Dylan Cozens, his seven assists are one back of the tournament lead and – perhaps most impressively – he has absolutely dominated in the face-off circle, winning a whopping 76% of his draws (76 of 100), which puts him almost eight percentage points of second-place Brady Tkachuk of the U.S. (68.5%). Although it has been eight years since he donned the Maple Leaf, Tavares is one of the country’s most decorated representatives – he has won two World Juniors gold medals, an Olympic gold, a World Cup of Hockey and a Spengler Cup, posting 89 points (42-47—89) in 74 international games.

The kids have been alright for Slovakia so far. While it’s 33-year-old Libor Hudacek leading the team in scoring with nine points (5-4—9) in seven prelim games, he’s followed closely behind by 20-year-olds Juraj Slafkovsky (0-7—7) and Simon Nemec (1-5—6) and 24-year-old Martin Pospisil (3-4—7). Slafkovsky and Nemec are the future of Slovak hockey – they made history in 2022 when they went one-two to Montreal and New Jersey, respectively, in the NHL Draft, becoming the highest drafted players ever from Slovakia. Slafkovsky announced his arrival on the international stage two years ago in Finland, recording nine points in eight games as an 18-year-old, one month before the Canadiens took him No. 1.

A Look Back

Canada has won the last five meetings with Slovakia, dating back to 2014, and 13 of the 17 all-time meetings going back to 1996 when Slovakia returned to the Top Division after its split from Czechia.

Included in those 17 are three quarterfinal meetings – Slovakia earned a 3-2 victory in 2002, Patrice Bergeron had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 Canadian win in 2006 and the Slovaks made a late comeback to get a 4-3 victory in 2012.

All-time record: Canada leads 13-2-2 (1-0 in OT/SO)
Canada goals: 65
Slovakia goals: 40

Canada’s National Men’s Team closes out the preliminary round Tuesday at the 2024 IIHF World Championship, taking on host Czechia with an opportunity to wrap up first place in Group A.

Last Game

Canada leaned on its power play to score a 3-2 win over Switzerland in a battle of unbeaten teams Sunday. Dylan Cozens scored twice with the man advantage and Nick Paul added the game-winner on the power play as the Canadians took over sole possession in the group and handed the Swiss their first loss.

The Czechs last saw the ice Saturday, easing past Great Britain 4-1 for their fourth win in five games. Lukas Sedlak scored twice and added an assist, and Roman Cervenka provided four helpers in front of a crowd of 17,413 at O ₂ Arena.

Last Meeting

The Canadians and Czechs met at this same stage a year ago, in the prelim finale in Riga. In that one, Tyler Myers broke open a tie game early in the third period as Canada earned a 3-1 victory. Peyton Krebs and Lawson Crouse opened and closed the scoring for the Canadians, who finished with a 44-17 advantage in shots on goal.

What to Watch

Put the Maple Leaf on his chest, and all Cozens does is score goals. His two against the Swiss on Sunday give him six in as many games in Prague, tying him for the tournament lead (with Oliver Kapanen and Brady Tkachuk). Add those six to the seven he scored in 2022 and the 23-year-old is knocking on the door of the top five goal-scorers in Team Canada history at Men’s Worlds (Steve Yzerman, Jason Spezza and Matt Duchene are tied in that spot with 18). And it’s not as if this has come out of nowhere; Cozens scored 31 goals a season ago for the Buffalo Sabres, and netted 10 (and 25 points) across 14 games at the 2020 and 2021 World Juniors.

Reinforcements have arrived for Czechia. Martin Necas was added to the roster Saturday after his Carolina Hurricanes were eliminated from the NHL playoffs, and David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha of the Boston Bruins were added Monday. Pastrnak is the big name; he had 110 points (47-63—110) with the Bruins this season (after posting 113 last season) and immediately becomes the best and most dangerous player on the roster. He has been terrific wearing the colours of his country – Pastrnak has 29 points (13-16—29) in 28 career games at Men’s Worlds, and added 14 (3-11—14) at two World Juniors.

A Look Back

The 26 meetings between the Canadians and Czechs (since 1993, following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia) have been split almost right down the middle – Canada holds a narrow 14-12 advantage.

Despite the balanced head-to-head history, it has been all Canada over the last decade; it has won the last eight meetings. That list includes three semifinal matchups – Mike Smith posted a 23-save shutout in 2015, Mark Stone had a goal and an assist in 2019, and Cozens scored twice and added a helper in 2022.

All-time record: Canada leads 14-12 (1-1 in OT/SO)
Canada goals: 81
Czechia goals: 74

Canada’s National Men’s Team looks to keep the momentum going as it takes on Switzerland in a showdown for first place in Group A on Sunday at the 2024 IIHF World Championship.

Last Game

Canada shook off a very slow start against Finland on Saturday to earn a 5-3 victory. Dylan Cozens, Brandon Tanev, Owen Power, Brandon Hagel and Dawson Mercer supplied the offence for the Canadians, who trailed 2-0 and were outshot 12-0 in the first eight minutes before mounting their comeback and improving their record to 5-0.

The Swiss also made it five wins from as many games Saturday, getting three points apiece from Kevin Fiala (2-1—3) and Nico Hischier (1-2—3) in an 8-0 win over Denmark. Leonardo Genoni made 17 saves to earn the second-straight shutout for Switzerland, which is unbeaten through five games for the third year in a row.

Last Meeting

The teams met a year ago in the prelims in Riga. Tyler Toffoli opened the scoring midway through the second period and Michael Carcone finished it in the dying minutes, but the Canadians were left on the wrong end of a 3-2 result, the 14th of what would end up being 15 consecutive preliminary-round wins for the Swiss across three tournaments.

What to Watch

Known primarily for his defensive prowess, Power chipped in on offence against the Finns with a goal and two assists – his first National Men’s Team goal after going without at the 2021 Men’s Worlds and 2022 Olympics. The Mississauga native burst onto the international scene at that 2021 tournament in Riga (just a few weeks before he was the No. 1 pick by Buffalo in the NHL Draft ), becoming the youngest player to wear the Maple Leaf and playing an increasingly large role as Canada won an unlikely world title. His only Team Canada goals before Saturday? He became the first Canadian defenceman to score a hat trick at the World Juniors when he got three against Czechia on Boxing Day 2021.

Roman Josi has been an absolute beast on the blue-line for Switzerland, posting a tournament-leading 10 points (3-7—10) in five games. The Swiss captain was at his best in the 6-5 thriller against Austria last Sunday, scoring twice and adding two assists, including the primary helper on Hischier’s game-winner in the final minute. Josi’s performance in Prague is simply an extension of the terrific season he put together for the Nashville Predators – he is a Norris Trophy finalist after putting up 85 points (23-62—85) while playing all 82 games and leading the Predators to a playoff spot. Josi is no stranger to Men’s Worlds; this is his seventh appearance, owning a pair of silver medals from 2013 and 2018.

A Look Back

It’s meeting No. 35 between the Canadians and Swiss, with Canada laying claim to 26 wins from the first 34 (with two ties).

The most recent Canadian victory came in the quarterfinals of the 2019 tournament in Kosice, Slovakia. With an early exit less than a second away, Damon Severson tied the game with four-tenths remaining before Mark Stone gave Canada a dramatic 3-2 overtime win.

All-time record: Canada leads 26-6-2 (4-2 in OT/SO)
Canada goals: 169
Switzerland goals: 54

Canada’s National Men’s Team gets into the meat of its preliminary-round schedule Saturday, taking on Finland as it begins a three-games-in-four-days stretch against the three teams chasing the Canadians in Group A.

Last Game

Canada made it four wins from as many games Thursday, holding Norway to just six shots on goal – zero in the first two periods – in a 4-1 victory. Brandon Tanev, Andrew Mangiapane, Dylan Cozens and Jared McCann scored the goals, while Nico Daws needed to make just five saves in his first start of the tournament.

The Finns suffered a historic 3-2 loss to Austria in their last time out Thursday, allowing the game-winning goal to Benjamin Baumgartner with just 0.2 seconds remaining. Saku Mäenalainen and Oliver Kapanen scored first-period goals for Finland, which lost to the Austrians for the first time in 11 all-time meetings at Men’s Words.

Last Meeting

The Canadians clashed with the host Finns in the quarterfinals a year ago. In front of a pro-Finland crowd of more than 11,000 at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Canada got goals from Jack Quinn, Sammy Blais and Michael Carcone to grab a 3-0 lead by the early minutes of the third period, and an empty-netter from captain Tyler Toffoli capped a 4-1 victory and sent the Canadians on their way to gold.

What to Watch

He may only be 20 years old with just 26 games of NHL experience, but Olen Zellweger hasn’t looked out of place in Prague. The defenceman has the best points-per-60-minutes average in the entire tournament – he has recorded four assists while playing just over 30 minutes in total across four games (averaging 7:36 of ice time per game). The Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, native, who didn’t make his NHL debut with Anaheim until Jan. 23, is no stranger to putting up numbers – in his final two WHL seasons with Everett and Kamloops, he totalled 158 points (46-112—158) in 110 games and won the Bill Hunter Trophy as WHL defenceman of the year in both seasons.

Kapanen has been the offensive star for the Finns through their first four games, scoring a tournament-leading six goals (one more than Connor Bedard). He had a hat trick in a win over Great Britain, and added two against Norway before striking against Austria. Kapanen, the 20-year-old nephew of former NHLer Sami Kapanen and cousin of St. Louis Blues forward Kaspei Kapanen, is almost halfway to his total from the regular season – he scored 14 times in 51 games with KalPa Kuopio, although he did net seven in just 13 postseason games as KalPa reached the Liiga semifinals.

A Look Back

To say the Canadians and Finns are familiar foes at Men’s Worlds would be a bit of an understatement. Only Sweden (68 GP) has been a more frequent opponent for Canada than Finland, with the teams set to meet for a 55th time in Prague.

The Canadians own victories in 38 of the first 54, including gold medal game matchups in 1994 (4-3 Canada in a shootout), 2007 (4-2 Canada), 2016 (2-0 Canada), 2019 (3-1 Finland), 2021 (3-2 Canada in overtime) and 2022 (4-3 Finland in overtime).

All-time record: Canada leads 38-14-2 (3-3 in OT/SO)
Canada goals: 280
Finland goals: 122

Canada’s National Men’s Team gets into the back half of the preliminary round Thursday at the 2024 IIHF World Championship, taking on Norway as it looks to remain unbeaten in Group A.

Last Game

Canada survived a scare against Austria on Tuesday; after taking a 6-1 lead into the third period, the Canadians allowed five goals in less than 16 minutes before John Tavares rescued a 7-6 overtime win. Tavares, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kaiden Guhle paced the offence with a goal and an assist each.

The Norwegians found the win column Tuesday after three-straight losses to open the tournament, getting goals from Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Eirik Salsten, and 24 saves from Henrik Haukeland in a 2-0 win over Denmark that kept their quarterfinal hopes alive.

Last Meeting

Canada made the wrong kind of history last year in Riga, dropping a 3-2 shootout decision for just its second loss in 25 all-time meetings with the Norwegians. Milan Lucic and Lawson Crouse provided the goals as Canada erased a 2-0 deficit to force extra time.

What to Watch

Guhle came into his own as a full-time NHLer this season, appearing in 70 games with the Montreal Canadiens, and has carried that play into the first three games in Prague. The Sherwood Park, Alberta, native co-leads Canadian blue-liners (alongside another Edmonton-area product, Olen Zellweger) with four points, and was in on the first two goals against the Austrians. The 22-year-old last wore the Maple Leaf at the cancelled 2022 World Juniors in Edmonton (where he was captain), a year after earning silver in the bubble in the Alberta capital.

The Norwegian roster is spread across Europe and North America, with representation from 17 club teams in seven leagues in six countries. But only one of the 25 players calls the National Hockey League home; Mats Zuccarello is a veteran of 835 NHL games with the New York Rangers, Dallas and Minnesota, posting 63 points (12-51—63) in 69 games with the Wild this season, his 14th. He’s also a national team veteran, representing his country at the Olympics (2010, 2014), Men’s Worlds (2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2024), World Juniors (2006, 2007) and U18 Men’s Worlds (2004, 2005), as well as with Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

A Look Back

The Canadians and Norwegians have been frequent foes in the 2000s, clashing 15 times since the turn of the millennium after meeting just 10 times in the 50 years before that.

Canada’s biggest win came in 1962 when the Galt Terriers handed Norway a 14-1 defeat. More recently, Tavares had a hat trick and Jordan Eberle added a goal and three assists as Canada eased to a 12-1 victory in Mannheim, Germany.

All-time record: Canada leads 23-2-0
Canada goals: 157
Norway goals: 29

The preliminary round rolls on for Canada’s National Men’s Team, which is back on the ice Tuesday at O2 Arena to take on Austria, looking to remain perfect in Group A at the 2024 IIHF World Championship.

Last Game

Canada finished off a perfect opening weekend Sunday, getting two goals and an assist from Connor Bedard in a 5-1 win over Denmark. Jordan Binnington made 19 saves and 12 different skaters recorded points as the Canadians pulled away with three goals (and a 26-5 advantage in shots) in the third period.

The Austrians dropped a nail-biter to Switzerland on Sunday, holding 2-0 and 3-1 leads before giving up the game-winner on the power play with just 51 seconds left in a 6-5 loss. Lukas Haudum scored twice and Clemens Unterweger had a goal and two assists as Austria fell to 0-2.

Last Meeting

The teams met May 5 in Vienna in the pre-tournament opener for the Canadians. Ridly Greig provided a goal and an assist, Michael Bunting chipped in with two helpers and Canada earned a 5-1 win in front of a packed house at Stiffl Arena.

What to Watch

While a quick look at the scoresheet shows a four-goal win for Canada over Denmark and just 19 saves for Binnington, the numbers don’t tell the whole story. The Richmond Hill, Ontario, product was terrific in the second period, making 11 stops in the middle frame as the Danes pushed hard to tie the game. Binnington – who put up a 2.84 goals-against average and .913 save percentage with St. Louis this season – had a limited Team Canada résumé coming into Men’s Worlds, playing only 35 minutes across two medal-round games at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship.

The entirety of the Austrian roster plies its trade in Europe – most in the ICE Hockey League – with the exception of Marco Rossi. The ninth overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, Rossi just completed his first full NHL season with Minnesota, playing all 82 games for the Wild, scoring 21 goals and finishing seventh in team scoring with 40 points. The 22-year-old has been a fixture on the international stage since 2017, playing in a pair of IIHF U18 World Championships, two IIHF World Junior Championships (including wearing the ‘C’ at the 2021 World Juniors in the Edmonton bubble), an Olympic qualifying tournament and two IIHF World Championships.

A Look Back

The head-to-head history dates back to the 1931 IIHF World Champioinship, with Canada earning 10 wins and a tie from 11 all-time meetings.

The teams most recently clashed at Men’s Worlds in the prelim finale in 2015 in Prague, a 10-1 Canadian win. Matt Duchene and Jason Spezza paced the offence in that one with two goals and two assists apiece, while Nathan MacKinnon and Jordan Eberle added a goal and a helper each.

All-time record: Canada leads 10-0-1
Canada goals: 68
Austria goals: 7

PRAGUE, Czechia – Hockey Canada has announced that John Tavares (Oakville, ON/Toronto, NHL) will wear the ‘C’ for Canada’s National Men’s Team at the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia.

Andrew Mangiapane (Bolton, ON/Calgary, NHL), Colton Parayko (St. Albert, AB/St. Louis, NHL) and Damon Severson (Melville, SK/Columbus, NHL) will serve alongside Tavares as alternate captains.

“It is a true honour to be named captain of Team Canada for the world championship on a team with so many great leaders, and I am excited to help this team defend its gold medal in Czechia,” Tavares said. “Andrew, Colton and Damon are great players that are deserving of this honour, and I look forward to serving on the leadership group with them and wearing the Maple Leaf with pride.”

Canada will open the tournament against Great Britain on May 11 at 6:20 a.m. ET/3:20 a.m. PT. It will also take on Denmark, Austria, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Czechia in the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the medal games on May 26.

TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcast partners, will broadcast 64 and 23 games, respectively; please check local listings for details.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Men’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along through social media on Facebook, X and Instagram.

The puck drops Saturday at the 2024 IIHF World Championship for Canada’s National Men’s Team, which opens up preliminary-round play in Group A against Great Britain.

Last Game

Canada finished its two-game pre-tournament schedule with a 4-0 win over Hungary in Budapest on Tuesday. Colton Parayko, Bowen Byram, Owen Power and Dylan Guenther provided the offence for the Canadians, who peppered the Hungarian goal with 66 shots. Jordan Binnington was perfect in the Canadian crease, making 21 saves.

The Brits played their lone exhibition game Tuesday, dropping a 5-2 decision to Kazakhstan in Slany, Czechia. Liam Kirk and Sam Ruopp scored the goals, with Kirk in on both.

Last Meeting

It’s been five years since the teams last faced off at Men’s Worlds. In their prelim matchup in 2019, Anthony Mantha scored two goals and set up three others, Kyle Turris added a pair of goals of his own and Canada outshot the Brits 56-12 in an 8-0 win.

What to Watch

The Canadian roster includes plenty of recent international success. Joel Hofer and Jack McBain are back from the team that won gold a year ago in Finland, Michael Bunting, Brandon Hagel, Andrew Mangiapane, Nick Paul and Owen Power were all part of the Canadian contingent that captured a memorable world title in Latvia in 2021, and Hofer, Connor Bedard, Bowen Byram, Dylan Cozens, Nico Daws, Dylan Guenther, Dawson Mercer and Olen Zellweger are all recent IIHF World Junior Championship gold medallists.

Kirk is the notable name on the British roster, at least to most North American fans. The 24-year-old crossed the Atlantic to play two seasons with the Peterborough Petes in the Ontario Hockey League from 2018-20, and was a seventh-round selection (189th overall) of the Arizona Coyotes in 2018. He played parts of two seasons in the AHL and ECHL before returning to Europe, spending this season with HC Litvinov in the Czech Extraliga (19-11—30 in 52 GP). This will be his fifth Men’s Worlds for Great Britain, posting 19 points in 23 games across his first four appearances in the Top Division (2019, 2021) and Division 1A (2018, 2023).

A Look Back

The head-to-head history goes all the way back to 1935, but this will be only the 11th meeting across those 89 years, with Canada having won all 10 of the previous matchups.

The teams shared the podium at the 1935 Men’s Worlds, with Canada winning gold and Great Britain taking bronze, did it again in 1937 (Canada, gold; Great Britain, silver) and clashed in the gold medal game in 1938, with Canada earning a 3-1 victory in Prague.

All-time record: Canada leads 10-0-0
Canada goals: 77
Great Britain goals: 8

PRAGUE, Czechia – Hockey Canada has announced the addition of John Tavares (Oakville, ON/Toronto, NHL) to Canada’s National Men’s Team for the 2024 IIHF World Championship, May 10-26 in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia.

Tavares has represented Canada on numerous occasions, winning gold medals at the 2008 and 2009 IIHF World Junior Championships, and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. He also won the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, and has suited up at the IIHF World Championship three times (2010, 2011, 2012).

“John is a world-class player and a great leader, and being able to have him join our roster for the world championship allows us to add a highly-skilled player with a veteran presence,” said general manager Rick Nash (Brampton, ON/Columbus, NHL). “His experience in previous international competition and his success on the international stage will be an important factor in our team’s success, and we know he will greatly benefit our group as we look to defend gold.” 

The Toronto Maple Leafs captain recently completed his 15th NHL season, and has amassed 1,040 career points (456 goals, 584 assists) in 1,109 games with the New York Islanders (2009-18) and Maple Leafs (2018-24).

Canada will open the 2024 IIHF World Championship against Great Britain on May 11 at 6:20 a.m. ET/3:20 a.m. PT. It will also take on Denmark, Austria, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Czechia in the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the medal games on May 26.

TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcast partners, will broadcast 64 and 23 games, respectively; please check local listings for details.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Men’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along through social media on Facebook, X and Instagram.