2026 IIHF World Championship Opens in Switzerland With NHL Players Featured

The 2026 IIHF World Championship opened in Switzerland on Friday, bringing together national teams from across Group A and Group B with several NHL players set to play prominent roles, including five Florida Panthers athletes. Finland’s captain Aleksander Barkov, along with Anton Lundell, will represent Finland, while Matthew Tkachuk is scheduled to play for the United States. Sandis Vilmanis will skate for Latvia and Marek Alscher will play for Czechia. The tournament runs through May 31.

The opening slate features four matches across two host locations. Finland faces Germany in Zurich at 10:20 a.m., followed by Canada against Sweden in Fribourg at 10:20 a.m. The afternoon continues with the United States taking on Switzerland in Zurich at 2:20 p.m., before Czechia plays Denmark at 2:20 p.m. in Fribourg.

The United States enters the championship as the defending winner after capturing gold in 2025 for the first time since 1933, and it will aim to build on that momentum in the group stage. According to the available tournament preview, the Americans are led by Don Granato, and while Tkachuk is part of the lineup, the squad could be missing some players whose club seasons extend...