With the preliminary round at the 2025 IIHF World Championship a little over a week old, we’re beginning to get a good look at where each nation stands and whether they’re heading to the playoff round, missing out on the quarterfinals or at risk of being relegated.
The morning games in Herning and Stockholm featured four teams that were in the mix for relegation at this year’s tournament with Austria taking on France and Hungary facing the co-hosts, Denmark, with each nation in desperate need to pick up as many points as possible.
Meanwhile in the late games, co-hosts Sweden faced Slovenia, who are last in Group A and Switzerland took on a Norwegian team who have been very disappointing this tournament and sit last place in Group B. Heading into the game, on paper, Sweden and Switzerland shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up three points.
Austria (5) vs France (2) F
Less than 24 hours after a tough loss to Canada, where they led after 20 minutes, the Austrians were back in action on Friday as they took on a French squad that may have only had one point entering the day, but played quite well against Finland earlier in the tournament, taking them to overtime. It was all Austria in the first period, with Detroit Red Wings prospect Marco Kasper opening the scoring 39 seconds into the game. Montreal Canadiens prospect Vinzenz Rohrer and Roman Schnetzer also scored in the opening frame, giving Austria a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. The two teams went scoreless in the second period before Jordann Perret brought France within two just over ten minutes into the third. Marco Kasper added an empty netter seven minutes later for his second of the night and shortly after, while on the power player, former NHLer Pierre-Edouard Bellemare got France back within two. Less than a minute after Bellemare’s goal, Austria would add another empty netter, courtesy of Peter Schneider, to give them a 5-2 win. With the regulation loss, France is now officially eliminated from quarterfinal contention.
Scoring Summary:
Austria
- Marco Kasper (3). Assists: Dominic Zwerger (1), Clemens Unterwerger (3).
- Vinzenz Rohrer (2). Assists: Lukas Haudum (1), Brian Lebler (2).
- Ramon Schnetzer (1).
- Marco Kasper (4). Assists: Dominic Zwerger (2), Vinzenz Rohrer (2).
- Peter Schneider (2). Assist: Dominic Zwerger (3).
France
- Jordann Perret (2). Assists: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (3), Alexandre Texier (1).
- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (1). Assists: Alexandre Texier (2), Jordann Perret (2).
Hungary (2) vs Denmark (8) F
Over in Herning, the co-hosts Denmark were given the early game on Friday where they faced Hungary, who are coming off their first regulation win at the top division of the World Championship since 2016. Hungary got the scoring started and took a 2-0 lead just over six minutes into the game, with their first coming thanks to Peter Vincze 33 seconds in on the power play. Mikkel Aagaard score seven minutes later to cut Hungary’s lead to one heading into the first intermission. The Danes would then rattle off seven more goals (3 in the second, 4 in the third) for a total of eight unanswered, which included a hat trick from former Niagara IceDogs & Sudbury Wolves forward Mikkel Aagaard and a three assist night from Seattle Kraken prospect Oscar Fisker Molgaard. Despite the 8-2 loss, Hungary still has a shot at making it to the quarterfinals, but will need some help and remain two points up on Norway, who currently occupy the eighth spot in Group B and are at risk of being relegated after being in the top division since 2006.
Scoring Summary:
Hungary
- Peter Vincze (2). Assists: Janos Hari (4), Henrik Nilsson (2).
- Andras Mihalik (2). Assists: Bence Szabo (1), Tamas Ortenszky (3).
Denmark
- Mikkel Aagaard (2). Assists: Nick Olesen (4), Markus Lauridsen (2).
- Markus Lauridsen (1).
- Jesper Jensen Aabo (1). Assists: Mathias Bau (1), Phillip Bruggisser (1).
- Patrick Russell (1). Assists: Nick Olesen (5), Matias Lassen (1).
- Mikkel Aagaard (3). Assists: Oscar Fisker Molgaard (1), Joachim Blichfeld (3).
- Mathias Bau (1). Assist: Alexander True (1).
- Mikkel Aagaard (4). Assists: Oscar Fisker Molgaard (2), Joachim Blichfeld (4).
- Markus Lauridsen (2). Assists: Oscar Fisker Molgaard (3), Nicklas Jensen (4).
Sweden (4) vs Slovenia (0) F
The Swedes have been great through their first four games of the 2025 IIHF World Championship as they remain undefeated and will have some reinforcements on the way from North America over the next week, including William Karlsson of the Vegas Golden Knights. Standing between Sweden and a 5-0-0-0 start on Friday was Slovenia, who still have yet to pick up a point in the tournament, losing their first four games in regulation. Swedish forward Elias Lindholm took charge of this game, recording a natural hat trick to bring his tournament total to five goals. Marcus Johansson of the Minnesota Wild also scored for Sweden on Friday, picking up his first goal of the tournament after registering six last year enroute to a bronze medal. Jacob Markstrom making nine saves for his second shutout of the 2025 IIHF World Championship. Meanwhile, Slovenian goaltender Lukas Horak did all he could and more to keep his nation in this game, stopping 56 of 60 shots in the game.
Scoring Summary:
Sweden
- Elias Lindholm (3). Assists: Mikael Backlund (3), Erik Gustafsson (4).
- Elias Lindholm (4). Assists: Marcus Pettersson (3), Filip Forsberg (1).
- Elias Lindholm (5). Assists: Jonas Brodin (3), Adam Larsson (2).
- Marcus Johansson (1). Assists: Erik Gustafsson (5), Simon Edvinsson (1).
Switzerland (3) vs Norway (0) F
Switzerland’s day didn’t start very well after receiving news from their medical staff as captain Nico Hischier is set to miss the rest of the 2025 IIHF World Championship with a muscular injury. Losing Nico Hischier is massive for Switzerland and could hurt them down the line in the playoff round, but they’ll need their big players like Timo Meier and Kevin Fiala to step up. On Friday, the Swiss faced a win-less Norwegian squad that is facing the threat of relegation in Group A and at this point, there’s a very good possibility they could be heading to Division 1A for the first time since 2005. Former Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche forward Sven Andrighetto picked up where he left off, scoring his sixth of the tournament 24 hours after having a four-goal game against Germany. Gregory Hofmann also scored in the first period to give the Swiss a 2-0 lead heading to the intermission. Tyler Moy, who has been one of the biggest surprises this tournament, scored his third of the World Championship in the second period to make it 3-0. 24-year-old Stephane Charlin registered his first shutout in his second career IIHF World Championship game, making 12 saves along the way, to help the Swiss pick up their fourth regulation win of the the tournament.
Scoring Summary:
Switzerland
- Sven Andrighetto (6). Assists: Dean Kukan (4), Denis Malgin (7).
- Gregory Hofmann (1). Assists: Tyler Moy (4), Simon Knak (1).
- Tyler Moy (3). Assists: Timo Meier (3), Michael Fora (3).
Standings After Day 8
Group A
- Sweden (5 GP, 5 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 0 L, 21 GF, 3 GA, +18, 15 PTS) – Q
- Canada (4 GP, 4 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 0 L, 21 GF, 2 GA, +19, 12 PTS)
- Finland (4 GP, 2 W, 1 OTW, 0 OTL, 1 L, 16 GF, 7 GA, +9, 8 PTS)
- Slovakia (4 GP, 2 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 0 L, 7 GF, 10 GA, -3, 6 PTS)
- Latvia (4 GP, 2 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 2 L, 10 GF, 16 GA, -6, 6 PTS)
- Austria (5 GP, 1 W, 1 OTW, 0 OTL, 3 L, 12 GF, 14 GA, -2, 5 PTS)
- France (5 GP, 0 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 4 L, 7 GF, 20 GA, -13, 1 PTS) – E
- Slovenia (5 GP, 0 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 5 L, 4 GF, 25 GA, -21, 0 PTS) – E
Group B
- Switzerland (4 GP, 4 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 0 L, 20 GF, 8 GA, +12, 13 PTS) – Q
- Czechia (4 GP, 3 W, 1 OTW, 0 OTL, 0 L, 20 GF, 8 GA, +12, 11 PTS)
- Germany (4 GP, 3 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 1 L, 16 GF, 9 GA, +7, 9 PTS)
- United States (4 GP, 2 W, 1 OTW, 0 OTL, 1 L, 17 GF, 8 GA, +9, 8 PTS)
- Denmark (5 GP, 2 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 3 L, 17 GF, 20 GA, -3, 6 PTS)
- Hungary (5 GP, 1 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 4 L, 8 GF, 28 GA, -20, 3 PTS)
- Kazakhstan (4 GP, 1 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 3 L, 6 GF, 14 GA, -8, 3 PTS)
- Norway (5 GP, 0 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 4 L, 9 GF, 18 GA, -9, 1 PTS) – E
- Q – Qualified for Playoff Round.
- E – Elimination from Playoff Round contention.
- R – Relegated to Division 1A for 2026.
My Three Stars of Day 8
- Mikkel Aagaard (Denmark) – 3 goals in win vs Hungary.
- Marco Kasper (Austria) – 2 goals in win vs France.
- Lukas Horak (Slovenia) – 56 saves on 60 shots in loss vs Sweden.
Day 9 Schedule (Saturday, May 17th)
- Finland vs Latvia (6:20 am ET)
- United States vs Germany (6:20 am ET)
- France vs Sweden (10:20 am ET)
- Czechia vs Kazakhstan (10:20 am ET)
- Canada vs Slovakia (2:20 pm ET)
- Denmark vs Norway (2:20 pm ET)
Source: IIHF.