2024 IIHF World Championship: Tournament preview

MONTREAL – The 2024 IIHF World Championship is scheduled to take place May 10 to 26 in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia.

Thirteen European countries, two North American nations and one representing Asia make up the sixteen-team tournament.

Austria, Canada, Finland, Slovakia, and the United States will be represented by five members of the Canadiens' organization: Cole Caufield (USA), Kaiden Guhle (CAN), Oliver Kapanen (FIN), Vinzenz Rohrer (AUT) and Juraj Slafkovsky (SVK).

All 64 games of the tournament will be broadcast on TSN, while select games can be seen on RDS.

Here are 10 things you need to know ahead of the tournament:

All times are Eastern Standard Time

1. At Prague Arena, the spotlight is on Austria, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Norway, and Switzerland as they compete in the preliminary round of Group A. Ostrava Arena is hosting Group B, featuring France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, and the United States.

2. Caufield will be attending the international event for the first time in his career. Coming off a personal-best season with the Habs, the 23-year-old forward returns to action when Team USA meets Team Sweden in their opening game on May 10 at 2:20 p.m.

3. Guhle will make his debut at the senior-level tournament. The Edmonton, AB native, who tallied 22 points in 70 games this year, and Team Canada get underway on May 11 at 6:20 a.m. against Team Great Britain.

4. Kapanen is making his first appearance at the championship, after captaining Finland at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Champioship. The Habs’ 2021 second-round pick contributed 34 points in 51 games for KalPa in the SM-Liiga this season and added 14 more in 13 postseason contests. Kapanen and the Finns are set to kick off their tournament on May 10 at 2:20 p.m. against the host Czechs.

5. Rohrer will wear his country’s colors for the first time since the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship. The 19-year-old Austrian forward collected 19 points in 49 appearances for the ZSC Lions in the Swiss National League this season. The Habs prospect, who was selected 75th overall in 2022, and Team Austria start their tournament on May 11 at 10:20 a.m. against Team Denmark.

6. Slafkovsky returns to the IIHF World Championship for the third time in his career. The 20-year-old forward featured at the 2021 and 2022 editions of the event, totaling three goals and six assists across 14 games. Slafkovsky and the Slovaks begin competition play on May 10 at 10:20 a.m. against the Germans.

7. Caufield and Slafkovsky go head-to-head on May 13 at 10:20 a.m. Any potential Guhle versus Caufield or Slafkovsky matchup will have to wait until the knockout rounds.

8. With the group stage wrapping up on May 21, here's a look at the schedule for the knockout rounds:

9. Team Canada are the defending champions. Samuel Montembeault and Justin Barron helped the Canadians to a 5-2 win over Germany in the gold medal game at last year’s edition of the tournament in Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia. The Latvians are the defending bronze medallists, after knocking off the Americans 4-3 in overtime in 2023.

Canada has won a record 53 medals at the event: 28 gold, 16 silver and nine bronze. Czechia and Sweden, along with Russia, who will not be participating in this year’s tournament, are tied for the second most medals with 47. When the competition was last held in Czechia (2015), David Savard and Team Canada were crowned champions.

10. At least one Hab has won gold in each of the previous two editions of the championship: Joel Armia (2022; Finland) and Barron and Montembeault (2023; Canada).

For more information on the 2024 IIHF World Championship, click here.