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World Championships Recap Day 14: Flames’ Whitecloud, Maatta to play for IIHF medals in Sunday’s finale
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Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
May 31, 2026, 08:00 EDTUpdated: May 30, 2026, 22:10 EDT
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Two Calgary Flames will play for a medal on Sunday.
Saturday was the penultimate day of the 2026 IIHF World Championships, as the remaining four teams played to determine who’ll play for the gold on Sunday. Zach Whitecloud’s Team Canada took on Olli Määttä’s Team Finland, with the Finns coming out on top.
Let’s take a look at what happened on Saturday, as well as set up the two medal games on Sunday.

Team Canada vs Team Finland

The Finns got on the board just three and a half minutes into the game, as Patrik Puistola beat Jet Greaves for an early lead. But just over eight minutes in, Robert Thomas tied the game, with an assist from St. Louis Blues teammate Dylan Holloway.
With just over five and a half to play, Holloway scored a goal of his own, giving Team Canada a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. But just 49 seconds into the second, Aleksander Barkov scored to tie the game at two. Then after a review, it was deemed that Konsta Helenius’ shot on the breakaway fully crossed the line, giving the Finns a 3-2 lead.
It went from bad to worse for the Canadians, as Aatu Räty scored a minute and a half later to double Team Finland’s lead. Although Team Canada pushed in the third period, outshooting the Finns 14-2, they were unable to even get one past the Finnish netminder.
Starting with Whitecloud, he fired two shots on goal in just under 17 minutes of action, finishing the game as a -1. The Brandon, Manitoba product has one assist over the nine games, with eight penalty minutes and a -3.
On the other side, Määttä played a little over 18 minutes, failing to put a shot on goal, but finishing as a +2. Over Team Finland’s nine games, Määttä has two assists, four penalty minutes, and is a +5.

Other notes…

The early game on Saturday saw Team Norway’s Cinderella run come to an end, falling 6-0 to Team Switzerland. That sets up a Group A rematch between the hosts, Team Switzerland, and Team Finland. The gold medal game has a start time of 12:20 p.m. MT.
While Team Canada’s result was disappointing, they’ll still have a chance to medal at the World Championship for the first time since 2023, when they won the gold medal. Since then, they’ve finished fourth (2024) and were knocked out by Denmark in the quarter-finals (2025).  The bronze medal game has a 7:30 a.m. MT start time.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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