The 2026 IIHF World Championship has now officially come to an end, and for five Calgary Flames players and their team, there were very mixed results from what ended up being a very surprising tournament.
After Martin Pospisil was eliminated in the preliminary round, both Matt Coronato and Devin Cooley were taken out in the quarterfinals, and on Sunday, the final two remaining names in the tournament battled it out for gold and bronze.
Firstly was Zach Whitecloud and Team Canada, and after an impressive performance in the group stage, the team were upset in a major way, as Norway picked up the 3-2 victory in overtime, with Canada once again failing to medal at Worlds.
Game over. / Match fini. 🇨🇦🇳🇴
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) May 31, 2026
📊 https://t.co/dVqxpsMVg5
📊 https://t.co/mbGg8PPt5H#MensWorlds | #MondialMasculin pic.twitter.com/ejsvBaPCko
Given the stars that were at the tournament, this is a massive failure for Canada, with the team now facing some major changes after failing to achieve their ultimate goal across many recent international tournaments.
Luck was on the side of Olli Maatta and Team Finland however, as the team managed to grind out a 1-0 victory over the host team Switzerland, claiming their first gold medal at the tournament since 2022 when they won the tournament at home.
THE 2026 MEN'S WORLDS CHAMPIONS 🏆🇫🇮🔥#MensWorlds #IIHF @leijonat pic.twitter.com/lYX7Srqjyq
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 31, 2026
While Maatta didn't contribute much on the scoresheet throughout the finals, his impact as a defensive minded leader for a talented Finnish squad can't be understated, as he'll head back to Calgary following a very sucessful tournament.
Golden 🥇 pic.twitter.com/E2cizecSHZ
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) May 31, 2026
Overall, it was a very up-and-down event for the Calgary Flames representing their countries in Switzerland, but with two players out of five reaching the medal games and one coming home with gold, it was a successful tournament overall for the Flames.
