Shannon Coulter
Canada’s National Men’s Team will battle Norway for the second time this tournament with the bronze medal on the line at the 2026 IIHF World Championship in Zurich.
Last Game
Canada suffered its first loss in Switzerland on Saturday, falling 4-2 to Finland in the semifinals. Robert Thomas scored his first goal of the tournament and Dylan Holloway was named player of the game with a goal and an assist. Jet Greaves made 17 saves.
Earlier on Saturday, Norway fell 6-0 to host Switzerland. Two of the goals against Norway came on the power play, and Henrik Haukeland made 24 saves.
Last Meeting
It was a back-and-forth battle in this year’s preliminary round, but Canada edged Norway 6-5 in overtime on May 21. Mark Scheifele scored twice to make it 2-2 after the first period before Gabriel Vilardi’s power-play goal tied the game again with 40 minutes complete. Dylan Cozens scored short-handed to open the third period and Ryan O’Reilly’s goal sent the game to overtime. Scheifele completed his hat trick 29 seconds into the extra frame to earn Canada’s fourth victory.
What to Watch
Canada’s second line was buzzing against Finland. Holloway, Thomas and Scheifele generated 24 per cent of Canada’s shots on net against Finland (seven of 29), with both Holloway and Thomas finding the back of the net. Scheifele’s best game of the tournament came against Norway with his hat trick and the overtime winner. With Evan Bouchard’s injury in the quarterfinals, Sam Dickinson made his first appearance at the IIHF World Championship against Finland. The San Jose Sharks defenceman logged 12:19 of ice time and generated three shots.
Only 12 teams have won a medal at the IIHF World Championship—and Norway is not a part of that exclusive group. In fact, their best finish at Men’s Worlds is fourth place way back in 1951. A big part of why Norway has made it to this point of the tournament is their goaltender, Henrik Haukeland. In seven games, he has a 1.71 goals-against average, a 0.933 save percentage, three shutouts and even an assist. He’s also the netminder that took Canada to overtime earlier in the tournament with 36 saves. One of two 18-year-olds on Norway’s squad, Tinus Luc Koblar leads his team with six goals and nine points.
A Look Back
The Canadians and Norwegians have been frequent opponents in the 2000s, clashing 17 times since the turn of the millennium after meeting just 10 times in the 50 years before that.
This is the first time Canada and Norway will meet in a medal-round matchup. When Norway earned its best result at Men’s Worlds back in 1951, it faced Canada in the round-robin. The Canadians, represented by the Lethbridge Maple Leafs, shut out Norway 8-0 on its way to a gold medal.
All-time record: Canada leads 25-2-0 (1-1 in OT) Canada goals: 167 Norway goals: 35