These Bruins Are Skating in the World Championship Quarterfinal

BostonBruins.com –– The 2026 IIHF World Championship has narrowed down to eight teams following the opening-round play in Switzerland.

The United States, Canada, Finland, Czechia, Latvia, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland will all compete in the quarterfinal on Thursday after finishing in the top four of their respective groups.

​Seven Boston Bruins will skate for their respective countries in this next stage; Lukas Reichel and Team Germany did not qualify after ranking fifth in Group A.

​The World Championship started on May 15 and will run until the 31st. The quarterfinal matchups are split between Swiss Life Arena in Zurich and BCF Arena in Fribourg. The semifinals and medal games will be played in Zurich.

James Hagens, Alex Steeves, Mason Lohrei and Team USA will face off against Fraser Minten and Team Canada in Thursday’s quarterfinal at 10:20 a.m. ET. The United States finished fourth in Group A with 11 points; Canada sits at the top of Group B with 20 points.

Team USA edged Austria 4-1 on Tuesday to secure its spot. Steeves has posted three points (one goal, two assists) through seven games as he wears the Red, White and Blue for the first time. Hagens has one assist and Lohrei has yet to log a point.

Minten, who has been centering the fourth line between Porter Martone and Connor Brown, has four points (one goal, three assists) in the tournament thus far.

Thursday will mark the first time since the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics that the men’s Team USA and Canada have met on the international stage. The United States beat Canada 2-1 in overtime to win the gold medal in February.

More Bruins will face off in the other morning meeting between Finland and Czechia at 10:20 a.m. ET. Henri Jokiharju and Joonas Korpisalo will play for Finland, which clinched second place in Group A with 18 points. Matěj Blümel is skating for Czechia, which was placed third in Group B with 13 points.

Jokiharju has been a driving force on the backend for Finland, leading all defensemen with eight points (two goals, six assists). Korpisalo has earned two wins with a .974 save percentage. Both Bruins won bronze medals with Finland at this year’s Olympics.

Blümel has been a consistent top-six piece for Czechia, and has four points (two goals, two assists) in six games.

​While Germany did not advance in the tournament, Reichel still impressed. The 24-year-old forward, who signed a one-year contract extension with Boston in May, had eight points (four goals, four assists) in six games, including a hat trick on Saturday.

The other two quarterfinal contests are between Latvia and Norway, and between Sweden and Switzerland, at 2:20 p.m. ET.

The World Championship games are on NHL Network in the United States, and TSN (in English) and RDS (in French) in Canada. You can also livestream the tournament on the IIHF TV platform.