Denmark has less than 20 hockey arenas in its entire country. Canada's hockey pedigree needs no introduction. Take it a step further. In Thursday's IIHF World Championship quarterfinal matchup, Denmark's roster featured exactly one NHL player.

Canada sensationally crashed out of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship in the quarter-finals on Thursday, losing 2-1 to co-hosts Denmark in one of the biggest shocks in tournament history.

With the round-robin complete and players fresh off a day’s rest, it was time for the top four teams in each division to face off in the quarterfinals of the 2025 IIHF men’s World Championship.

Canada, led by the duo of NHL superstars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, had rolled through the tournament, suffering only a shootout loss to Finland while easily handling the field. The Canadians, however, shockingly met their match in the quarterfinals.

The U.S. men’s hockey team has reached the semifinals of the IIHF World Championship and is one win away from its best finish at a standalone worlds in 75 years. The U.S. rallied past Finland 5-2 in Thursday’s quarterfinals, advancing to Saturday’s semifinals to face Sweden in Stockholm.

The Danes, who are ranked 11th in the world and only have one full-time NHLer in Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers, scored twice in the final 2 minutes, 17 seconds of regulation to pull off the 2-1 upset.

At its annual congress in Stockholm on Friday, the IIHF awarded the 2029 World Championship to Slovakia – specifically Bratislava and Košice.

Hockey fever grips the globe as the IIHF World Championship playoffs 2025 commence on May 22nd. Led by stars like Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby, Team Canada clashes with Team Denmark. Team United States faces Team Finland,