Which Bruins Are Playing in 2026 IIHF Hockey World Championship? How to Watch
The Men's Ice Hockey World Championship is actually older than the Boston Bruins, but not by much. The first American-based franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) dates back to 1924, and recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary. Meanwhile, what's now known as the annual IIHF World Championship dates back to 1920, and is about to host its 89th tournament.
If you're sitting there thinking, "Wait, that doesn't add up," you're correct. From 1920 to 1968, the Olympic tournament was also considered the World Championship as well. But if you think that's a little off-center, consider that the first World Championship was played as part of the 1920 Olympics, which were the Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium. Canada won the gold, the U.S. took home the silver, and Czechoslovakia edged Sweden for the bronze.
Over the years the tournament has taken on a different vibe as it always includes top-level players but doesn't have the same status as the Olympics. While the NHL will often shut down for the Winter Games, the World Championship is played while the Stanley Cup Playoffs are ongoing, and after a long regular-season that stretched back to October.
Consequently, this year's pool of players ranges from All-Stars like Sidney Crosby (Canada), Matthew Tkachuk (Team USA, and Aleksander Barkov (Finland), to prominent minor-leaguers and college players — and that's with the tournament favorites as the 16-team field includes Italy, Great Britain and Hungary.
The latest edition of the tournament will begin Friday and returns to Switzerland, the home of the International Ice Hockey Federation, for the first time since 2009. Eight players in the Bruins organization will play for a variety of different teams, all of which are expected to make the quarterfinals and contend for a medal.
Matěj Blümel, Czechia
The 25-year-old forward had 21 goals and 31 assists in 58 games for the AHL's Providence Bruins this past season, finishing fourth in team scoring. This will be his third World Championship. He had a goal in five games in 2021, and four goals and four assists in 2022 while winning a bronze medal.
• Drafted No. 100 overall by Edmonton, fourth round, 2019 NHL Draft, signed with the Bruins as a free agent in 2025-26.
Team Czechia Note: The Czechs are coming off a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Olympics, but will have eight players from that team. They may go as far as their goaltending, which is mostly inexperienced at this level.
James Hagens, Team USA
How the rookie does in the tournament could go a long way in determining if Boston feels it needs to add a center to play on the first line this season. It's a huge need for the Bruins, but Hagens has that kind of ptential. "We want to give these guys every opportunity to take a job that’s staring at them," team president Cam Neely said at the season-wrap press conference about Hagens and Fraser Minten. During last week's exhibition against Germany, the 19-year old was the second-line center between Hobey Baker Award winners Max Plante and Isaac Howard, which could be a really fun combination of top-end prospects even though all three are left-handed shots.
• Drafted No. 7 overall in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Team USA Note: The Americans are the reigning champions, ending a drought that went all the way back to 1933. That gold medal was sandwiched between a pair of silver medals in 1932 and 1934. USA's only other World Championship title was 1960 when it won the Olympics gold medal at Squaw Valley, Calif.
Henri Jokiharju, Finland
At age 26, the first first-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks is a solid two-way defenseman, but last season played in just 41 games and saw his ice time drop from than 3 minutes per game from 21:22 to 17:48. He had two goals and 13 assists. Finland could relay on him a lot, and he's had a lot of success in international tournaments including winning gold at both the 2019 IIHF World Championship and the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship. More recently, he played for Finland in the Milano Cortina Olympics.
Team Finland Note: Keep an eye on Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Benjamin Rautiainen, who just had a breakout season in Finnish Liiga, and helped lead Tappara to the championship. Could be be a late addition?
Joonas Korpisalo, Finland
The 32-year-old goaltender had a 3.15 goals against average and .894 save percentage in 31 games with the Bruins this past season. However, the Bruins have to promote Michael DiPietro from Providence (AHL) or put him through waivers, so a lot could be riding on what Korpisalo does in the tournament. Finland's other goaltenders are Justus Annunen (Predators) and 36-year-old Harri Säteri (EHL Biel-Bienne). Korpisalo was also on Finland's roster for the recent Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina, and the 2017 IIHF World Championship.
Team Finland Note: Finland hasn't medaled since winning the tournament in 2022, when it was the host.
Mason Lohrei, Team USA
There's been a lot of speculation that the Bruins might deal the 6-5 defenseman out of Ohio State who began last season partnered with Charlie McAvoy only to get bumped down the depth chart. However, he went from finishing the previous season with the league's lowest plus/minus at -43, to +17 last season, and he's still only 25. Lohrei didn't play in last week's exhibition against Germany.
Team USA Note: At age 34, Justin Faulk (out of Minnesota Duluth) is the oldest player on American team, and will anchor the defense. He's won two bronze medals at the World Championship. During the team's exhibition game against Germany, Faulk was paired with former Bruins draft pick Ryan Lindgren (Minnesota) of the Seattle Kraken,
Fraser Minten, Canada
The center is fresh off finishing 10th in the Calder Trophy voting for NHL rookie of the year after notching 17 goals and 18 assists for in 82 games. What will be interesting to see is where the 21-year-old lines up during the tournament as Canada also has Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Robert Thomas, Dylan Cozens, Ryan O’Reilly, Mark Schiefele and Macklin Celebrini. Minten was the fourth-line center during last week's exhibition game against Hungary, behind Celebrini, O'Reilly and Thomas. That was also before Crosby joined the team.
Team Canada Note: Canada is the tournament favorite, and it should be, but has a monster opener against Sweden, which has 12 NHL players on its roster. The winner will have a big advantage in trying to to win Group B.
Lukas Reichel, Germany
Fresh off his one-year contract extension through the 2026-27 season, which was a good birthday gift as he'll turn 24 on Sunday, Reichel will try and help Germany grind its way to another medal after winning silver in 2023. Last season he had just three goals and five assists while playing for three different NHL teams (along with 27 AHL games with seven goals and 12 assists), and was traded by Vancouver to Boston in early March for a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Team Germany Note: There doesn't appear to be a lot of scoring depth, so the team's medal chances will probably ride with goaltender Philipp Grubauer of the Seattle Kraken.
Alex Steeves, Team USA
The former Notre Dame left wing who went undrafted is the feel-good story of this group as Steeves is 26 and has never represented the U.S. in an international tournament before. After playing just 14 games over four years for the Maple Leafs, he signed as a free agent and played in 43 games for the Bruins last season, scoring nine goals and 16 points. He was on the third line during the exhibition game with Germany.
Team USA Note: The opener against Switzerland is a rematch of last year's championship game, however this time they'll be playing before home fans in Zurich. Moreover, Matthew Tkachuk won't join Team USA until Tuesday due to he and his wife Ellie recently welcoming their first child.
How to Watch the IIHF World Championship
What: The 2026 IIHF Men's World Championship
When: May 15-31, 2026
Where: Switzerland. Group A will play at Swiss Life Arena in Zurich; Group B plays at BCF Arena in Fribourg. The semifianls and finaals will be played in Zurich.
Who: Top 16 teams in the Championship Division. There are four other divisions (I, II, III, IV). Estonia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have already earned promotion into the top division for 2027.
TV: NHL Network will show all Team USA games and "select matchups."
IIHF World Championship Format
• The field: There are 16 teams.
Group A has Austria, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Latvia, Switzerland and Team USA.
Group B includes Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Italy , Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden.
• Preliminary Round: Each team will play every opponent in its group. Teams get 3 points for a regulation win, 2 for OT/SO win, 1 for OT/SO loss.
• Elimination Rounds: The top four teams in each group advance to cross-group quarterfinals: first place in Group A faces the fourth-place team in Group B; 2B vs. 3A; 1B vs. 4A; 2A vs. 3B.•
• Teams are re-seeded for the semifinals, the winners of which will play for the gold medal.
• Relegation: The bottom team from each group drops to Division I Group A for the following year.
The day we have been waiting for has finally arrived‼️
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 15, 2026
2026 #MensWorlds starts TODAY 🙌 #IIHF pic.twitter.com/UqtFbs8RYo
2026 IIHF World Championship Full Schedule
All Times ET
Friday, May 15
Group A
Finland vs Germany, 10:20 a.m.
USA vs Switzerland, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Canada vs Sweden, 10:20 a.m.
Czechia vs Denmark, 4:20 p.m.
Saturday, May 16
Group A
Great Britain vs Austria, 6:20 a.m.
Hungary vs Finland, 10:20 a.m.
Switzerland vs Latvia, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Slovakia vs Norway, 6:20 a.m.
Italy vs Canada, 10:20 a.m.
Slovenia vs Czechia, 4:20 p.m.
Sunday, May 17
Group A
Great Britain vs USA, 6:20 a.m.
Austria vs Hungary, 10:20 a.m.
Germany vs Latvia, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Italy vs Slovakia, 6:20 a.m.
Denmark vs Sweden, 10:20 a.m.
Norway vs Slovenia, 4:20 p.m.
Monday, May 18
Group A
Finland vs USA, 10:20 a.m.
Germany vs Switzerland, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Canada vs Denmark, 10:20 a.m.
Sweden vs Czechia, 4:20 p.m.
Tuesday, May 19
Group A
Latvia vs Austria, 10:20 a.m.
Hungary vs Great Britain, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Italy vs Norway, 10:20 a.m.
Slovenia vs Slovakia, 4:20 p.m.
Wednesday, May 20
Group A
Austria vs Switzerland, 10:20 a.m.
USA vs Germany, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Czechia vs Italy, 10:20 a.m.
Sweden vs Slovenia, 4:20 p.m.
Thursday, May 21
Group A
Latvia vs Finland, 10:20 a.m.
Switzerland vs Great Britain, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Canada vs Norway, 10:20 a.m.
Denmark vs Slovakia, 4:20 p.m.
Friday, May 22
Group A
Germany vs Hungary, 10:20 a.m.
Finland vs Great Britain, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Canada vs Slovenia, 10:20 a.m.
Sweden vs Italy, 4:20 p.m.
Saturday, May 23
Group A
Latvia vs USA, 6:20 a.m.
Switzerland vs Hungary, 10:20 a.m.
Austria vs Germany, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Denmark vs Slovenia, 6:20 a.m.
Slovakia vs Czechia, 10:20 a.m.
Norway vs Sweden, 4:20 p.m.
Sunday, May 24
Group A
Great Britain vs Latvia, 10:20 a.m.
Finland vs Austria, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Denmark vs Italy, 10:20 a.m.
Slovakia vs Canada, 4:20 p.m.
Monday, May 25
Group A
USA vs Hungary, 10:20 a.m.
Germany vs Great Britain, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Czechia vs Norway, 10:20 a.m.
Slovenia vs Italy, 4:20 p.m.
Tuesday, May 26
Group A
Hungary vs Latvia, 6:20 a.m.
USA vs Austria, 10:20 a.m.
Switzerland vs Finland, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Norway vs Denmark, 6:20 a.m.
Sweden vs Slovakia, 10:20 a.m.
Czechia vs Canada, 4:20 p.m.
Thursday, May 28
Group A
Quarterfinals Game 1, 10:20 a.m.
Quarterfinals Game 2, 4:20 p.m.
Group B
Quarterfinals Game 3, 10:20 a.m.
Quarterfinals Game 4, 4:20 p.m.
Saturday, May 30
Semifinals Game 1, 9:20 a.m.
Semifinals Game 2, 4 p.m.
Sunday, May 31
Bronze Medal Game, 11:30 a.m.
Gold Medal Game, 4: 20 p.m.
This story will be updated if necessary.
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Christopher Walsh is the publisher of Boston Bruins On SI. He's also the founder of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and the publisher of Nashville Predators On SI, along with the Boston College Eagles, Miami Hurricanes, and Vanderbilt Commodores sites. The longstanding sports writer is the author of 26 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.