Pospisil injury clouds Calgary Flames success in World Championship round robin

When it comes to round robin action at the IIHF men’s World Championships and the Calgary Flames, we’ve got good news and bad news for you, folks.

The good news is that Canada and Slovakia both finished in the top four of their respective groups and they’re both advancing to the medal round. Heck, even better news is that the two representatives of the Flames – Canada’s Andrew Mangiapane and Slovakia’s Martin Pospisil – both impressed with their performances during round robin play.

The bad news is that Pospisil’s availability going forward in the tournament looks to be up in the air after he left Tuesday’s round robin game between Slovakia and Sweden in the first period after falling into the end boards awkwardly.

Slovakian reporter Tomáš Prokop reported on social media that initial examinations revealed no dislocation or fracture for Pospisil, but he was slated to undergo an MRI on Wednesday.

Pospisil was in the middle of a really impressive tournament. Over seven games, he had three goals and four assists for seven points, a plus-5 rating, and had won 54.81% of his face-offs. He had emerged as one of Slovakia’s difference-making players, something that could be pretty important for his international future with the 2026 Olympics just around the corner.

Slovakia finished fourth in Group B and earned themselves a quarterfinal date against Canada on Thursday.

Speaking of Canada, Mangiapane had himself a strong round robin performance as well. In seven games, Mangiapane had one goal and five assists for six points, with a plus-2 rating. Canada’s obviously more of a stacked club than Slovakia is, so Mangiapane’s more of a complimentary piece on his team than Pospisil is on his.

But both players had really strong round robin performances. At full strength, Slovakia would be expected to be an underdog against Canada – they last met in 2022’s round robin, with Canada winning 5-1. But Slovakia’s chances of standing a fighting chance against Canada are significantly better if Pospisil’s in the lineup.