But as the curtain draws on the season, the Flames have a bunch of players – and staff – that will be headed to Europe for the 2026 IIHF World Hockey Championship. In addition to head coach Ryan Huska joining Team Canada as an assistant coach, along with Kent Kobelka, Scott Cyr and Dr. Ian Auld – the Flames will likely have six players at the Worlds.

Here’s a rundown of whose season will be continuing a little longer.

Devin Cooley (USA)

During exit interviews with media on Apr. 17, Flames backup netminder Devin Cooley mentioned he’s joining the United States men’s national team for the Worlds. The roster was officially announced on Thursday, with Cooley being joined by Chicago’s Drew Commesso and Toronto’s Joseph Woll.

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Introducing the preliminary roster for the 2026 U.S. Men's National Team! 🇺🇸 #MensWorlds roster details: usah.info/2hpjeabs

5:26 PM · May 7, 2026

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It’ll be Cooley’s first-ever event with USA Hockey.

Martin Pospisil (Slovakia)

Also during exit interviews, Martin Pospisil mentioned that he’d be joining Slovakia at the Worlds. He joined their team in time for their May exhibition games, where he’s gotten to play with his older brother Kristian.

Pospisil has been a frequent men’s national team competitor, appearing at the 2017 Under-18 Worlds, the 2019 World Juniors, the 2024 World Championships, the 2024 Olympic qualifiers and the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Olli Maatta (Finland)

A couple days after exit media day, it was announced by the Finnish National Hockey Association that Olli Maatta will be playing for their national team at the Worlds. He’ll likely be an alternate captain.

Maatta’s played extensively for Finland at big events, including three World Championships, a World Cup, an Under-18 Worlds, three World Juniors, the 4 Nations Face-off, and two Olympics.

Matt Coronato (USA)

On Monday, Sportsnet’s Eric Francis reported that Coronato was to join Team USA.

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Matt Coronato will join Team USA at the World Championships.

7:06 PM · May 4, 2026

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When USA Hockey announced their roster on Thursday, Coronato was on it. It’s his third major event with USA Hockey, following the 2022 World Juniors and the 2023 World Championships.

Zach Whitecloud (Canada)

On Tuesday, Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg reported that Whitecloud was going to be joining Team Canada.

Whitecloud previously represented Canada at the 2022 World Championships.

Adam Klapka (Czechia)

Finally, Klapka has been with Czechia at the Fortuna Hockey Games and Beijer Hockey Games, two precursor tournaments before the Worlds. It would be unlikely that he would be left off the roster for the Worlds. Steinberg also tweeted on Thursday that Klapka was expected to be on the team.

He previously represented Czechia at last year’s Worlds

The 2026 IIHF World Hockey Championship runs May 15-31, 2026 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland.

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