Several Calgary Flames Impress On The Final Day Of The IIHF World Championship

While the Calgary Flames season came to an end in disappointing fashion, that doesn’t mean all of their players are taking time off, as the Flames had plenty of players competing in the IIHF World Championships that wrapped up on Sunday.

For these names, it was another opportunity to showcase to Calgary and to the world just how good they can be, and with five players competing in the final two games of the tournament, how did they go?

United States – Matthew Coronato

The United States were stunned in the semi-final by Germany, and on Sunday, they found themselves matched up against Latvia in the Bronze Medal Game. Unfortunately, in a dramatic finish, the US came up just short, but in a massive twist of drama, young Calgary Flame Matthew Coronato came up with a massive goal that put the team up 3-2 late in the third period.

After proving that he can score a clutch goal at any moment during his time at Harvard, Coronato flashed his clutch gene once again as he took a rebound and placed it home, and even though the team came up short, he finished the tournament with 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points in 10 games.

Given how important his signature was coming out of the NCAA season, it should be promising for Flames fans to see Coronato stepping up in big moments once again, and if he’s given a prominent role in 2023/24, we could see the emergence of a genuine top-six scoring threat.

Latvia – Kristians Rubins

Going from one of Calgary’s hottest future names to a major surprise, as Kristians Rubins, a player that was acquired for future considerations from Ottawa this past season stepped up in a big way, playing the hero for Latvia in their first ever medal winning performance.

After not scoring in the first three games he played this tournament, the 25-year old defenceman came up as clutch as clutch can be, tying the game in the final minutes of the third period to send them to Overtime.

In Overtime, Rubins came up clutch once again, finishing the game on a clutch rebound to give the Latvian team the win and their first ever medal at the IIHF World Championships, signalling that the Wranglers may have a solid player on their hand in 2023/24.

Canada – Tyler Toffoli, Mackenzie Weegar, Milan Lucic

As for three of the biggest names in the tournament, Toffoli, Weegar and Lucic once again propelled Canada to a fantastic finish, with Captain Toffoli netting a massive goal late in the game to put the game away, giving Canada a surprising Gold Medal win.

Mackenzie Weegar may have only come away with 1 assist in the finals, he ended the tournament tied for fourth in points with 3 goals and 8 assists for 11 points, before ultimately being named the Defenceman of the Tournament.

While Milan Lucic may not be under contract to the Flames anymore, he’s still seemingly proud to represent the organization in a big way, ending the tournament with 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points, showing that when he plays his role, he can still be an effective player.