2025 IIHF World Championship: Ehlers, Garland, Raymond highlight top standouts from quarterfinal
Denmark, USA, Sweden and Switzerland are the four teams that’ll fight for a medal at the 2025 World Championship after victories in their respective quarterfinal games on Thursday.
That’s right – Denmark pulled off one of the biggest upsets in tournament history by beating Canada with just one active NHLer, Nikolaj Ehlers. Denmark had never won a playoff game before today, but managed to qualify for the final four.
Of the four remaining teams, only Sweden (six) has won the tournament since the introduction of the playoff rounds in 1992. Switzerland will look to take one step higher on the podium after qualifying for the championship game a year ago, while USA has only won gold at this tournament once in a standalone event back in 1933.
Finland and USA played a tight game to start, with Finland even leading the game 2-1 at one point. But USA proved to be too strong down the stretch and rallied to win 5-2 after the Finns found themselves in penalty troubles.
Switzerland, though, didn’t have to worry about too much against Austria. They won the joust 6-0 after a big 3-0 first period, limiting the Austrians to just 13 shots in their first playoff appearance since 1994.
The tournament won’t have a repeat champion after Czechia fell 5-2 to Sweden over in Stockholm. The Swedes scored early and then dominated the rest of the way, giving the home crowd a ton to cheer about.
Canada and Denmark, meanwhile, played a much tighter game than anyone could have expected. The two teams traded chances all game but nobody could seem to figure out the other side. Eventually, Travis Sanheim made it 1-0 Canada, and it looked like Canada would leave with the victory. Instead, Nikolaj Ehlers and Nick Olesen combined to score two of the biggest goals in team history, launching the tournament co-hosts into the championship four.
Here’s a look at the top performers from the four quarterfinal games:
Finland 2, USA 5
Finland
#86 Teuvo Teravainen, RW (Chicago Blackhawks): Teravainen had a six-point effort against Slovenia and then had a quiet pair of games to close out the medal round. So it was good to see him showing up in a big way again, registering a pair of assists on the power play for the Finns. Teravainen was Finland’s primary over the past two weeks, capping off a year that saw him register 58 points during the regular season. Teravainen should be on the Olympic team in February.
#20 Eeli Tolvanen, LW (Seattle Kraken): And so should Tolvanen. He was the primary receiver of Teravainen’s feeds, scoring the first Finnish goal off a great shot. Tolvanen might not be the most complete player, but he’s definitely one of the nation’s better one-shot shooters and you need that on the power play. His goal today was his seventh of the tournament.
USA
#83 Conor Garland, RW (Vancouver Canucks): Garland has been one of USA’s better players in open space, and he was rewarded with two goals today. The second bounced off a Finnish defender and in, but Garland battled hard to get himself into a scoring position and then capitalized on the chance. For whatever reason, Garland tends to play some incredible hockey at the World Championship each year. It likely won’t result in a spot on the Olympic team, but he seems to elevate his game whenever he dons his nation’s colors.
#92 Logan Cooley, C (Utah Mammoth): Utah fans have to be thrilled with Cooley’s play. With two points today, he’s had four multi-point efforts in his first men’s national team action. He’s definitely someone who should be on USA’s radar for the Olympics, especially if they keep him alongside his good buddy Clayton Keller. Whenever Cooley has the puck on the power play, something positive seems to happen.
#8 Zach Werenski, D (Columbus Blue Jackets): Werenski plays with a level of calmness and expertise that few blueliners do in this tournament. He had two assists in the first two periods, doing an excellent job of avoiding the Finnish attackers trying to take his space away. Werenski has consistently been one of USA’s best players every single night, as you’d expect.
Austria 0, Switzerland 6
Austria
#3 Peter Schneider, RW: Schneider tried to get the troops to rally back in the second with three shots, and had four overall. In the end, he just couldn’t beat Leonardo Genoni. Still, it was a good effort for Schneider, who was one of the hardest-working players for Austria all tournament long. It just didn’t materialize into anything tangible tonight.
Switzerland
#43 Andrea Glauser, D: Glauser doesn’t get a lot of love outside of Switzerland, but the home fans know what he does well. He’s just always involved in the play, assisting on two goals today. The hard-working defender is better defensively than offensively but he does have the ability to make high-risk, high-reward passes that result in high-quality chances. Last year, he looked great as more of the shutdown guy with Roman Josi. Today, he had some fun in the other zone without sacrificing his own-zone play.
#17 Ken Jager, C: You might not have noticed Jager much before today, given he had two assists on goals in blowout games heading into today. But he had a goal and an assist as Switzerland’s fourth-line center in one of his best national team games to date. The 26-year-old is known more for his energy and speed, but his playmaking was on display today, and he scored on a nice shot, too.
#22 Nino Niederreiter, RW (Winnipeg Jets): El Nino has been a perfect replacement up front for Nico Hischier. He had a great two-way game in the final round-robin contest and then had two assists and three shots today. He just seemed extra involved alongside Kevin Fiala, making great passes all game long. Niederreiter gives the Swiss another game-changer up front and they’re better off because of it.
Canada 1, Denmark 2
Canada
#62 Brandon Montour, D (Seattle Kraken): Like he has done throughout the tournament, Montour was Canada’s lead chance-generator from the point, especially on the power play. He had a couple of good chances from the blueline and made some great plays through traffic. His ability to find players in open space is second to none on Canada’s blueline.
#11 Travis Konecny, LW (Philadelphia Flyers): Konecny was Canada’s best forward early in this game, leading the up-front group with four quality scoring chances in the first 40 minutes. He made some excellent moves around the net and had a couple of good passes but just couldn’t get the puck where it needed to be. Konecny kept the Danish blueline busy and did everything in his power to give the top six some life. It eventually paid off with an assist on Travis Sanheim’s goal to finally end the deadlock in the third period.
Denmark
#80 Frederik Dichow, G: Dichow was extremely busy in this one, stopping 30 shots over the first 40 minutes alone. His rock-solid game was what kept the Danes in this one. He was great on the penalty kill and made some great in-close stops against guys like Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. Dichow is the Danish goalie of the future, and we might see him guarding the net in future Olympic tournaments once Freddy Andersen calls it quits.
#41 Jesper Jensen Aabo, D: JJA was Denmark’s best defender, and he was busy. He played just under half of all three periods, getting time on the penalty kill and against Canada’s best attackers. It was some of the toughest matchups Jensen Aabo had to deal with all tournament long, but he did an excellent job of getting in front of pucks and taking lanes away.
#24 Nikolaj Ehlers, RW (Winnipeg Jets): What a moment. Many pending UFAs don’t participate in this tournament because they don’t want a potential injury to hurt their next deal. Instead, Ehlers took the opportunity in stride and scored the game-tying goal with just over two minutes to go. His play in the third period alone sparked that comeback effort, and Denmark has been significantly more dangerous in his two games with the team.
Czechia 2, Sweden 4
Czechia
#80 Daniel Vladar, G (Calgary Flames): Vladar was the backup in this game before Karel Vejmelka was pulled following the first period. The Czechs seemed to play better with Vladar in net, and while he still allowed a goal in the second to put the game out of reach, he gave the team some newfound energy. Vladar had the better numbers heading into the game today and might have deserved the start, but at least he put in a good effort when called upon.
#10 Roman Cervenka, LW: Cervenka loves the power play. He scored the 3-1 goal to give Czechia some life after escaping the clutches of a Swedish defender to get into open ice. Cervenka might have come short of another gold medal but his leadership in this tournament showed that he still has so much to offer at 39 years old. Get ready to watch the veteran on Czechia’s top line at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Sweden
#23 Lucas Raymond, RW (Detroit Red Wings): Raymond took a penalty that nearly resulted in a Czech goal, but he made up for it with a pair of goals to help extend Sweden’s advantage to three goals early. Raymond isn’t going to make many mistakes when he’s in all alone on the rush, and he did a great job of creating chances where he can go in on a breakaway. The first period was one of his best of the tournament and a big reason why Sweden took full control.
#38 Rasmus Sandin, D (Washington Capitals): Sandin was a late addition to the Swedish lineup, making his tournament debut on Tuesday. He wasted no time making an impact today, snagging assists on both of Raymond’s first-period goals thanks to huge long-range passes. Sandin is coming off an excellent season in Washington where he showed some high-end offensive talent. It’s good seeing him having a strong showing on home ice in Sweden, even if the sample size has been small.
#91 Leo Carlsson, C (Anaheim Ducks): Carlsson had a pair of goals to continue his hot play in Stockholm. The 20-year-old was an extra forward at the 4 Nations Face-Off, but he has been crucial for the Swedes at the World Championship, scoring four goals and eight points in eight games. Carlsson is going to have a breakout season next year in Anaheim – book it.
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