14 days of games over the past three weeks have led to this. The 2025 IIHF World Championship came to a close Sunday, capped off by the bronze medal match-up between Sweden and Denmark, followed by the gold medal showdown between Switzerland and United States. Here’s how the tournament wrapped up:

It wasn’t the game Sweden had hoped to play in — the home team would have preferred a shot at gold. Still, any medal on home ice is a success. Denmark, meanwhile, was playing in its first-ever medal game at the tournament. With a previous best finish of seventh, the Danes had already secured their highest placement, but were hoping to capture their first medal.

Through the opening period, it looked like a tightly contested matchup. Neither side could generate much, with shots narrowly favouring Sweden, 6-4.

Whatever was said in the Swedish locker-room during the intermission seemed to spark something. Five minutes into the second period, Mikael Backlund found space in front after an offensive zone faceoff win and tipped in a perfect pass from Adam Larsson to open the scoring. A few minutes later, Backlund struck again — this time on the power play — firing a sharp-angle shot that somehow beat the Danish goaltender. Markus Johansson added a third to give the Swedes a comfortable lead heading into the third.

Early in the final frame, Lucas Raymond buried a breakaway to make it 4-0. Denmark pushed back, with Nick Olesen and Nikolaj Ehlers scoring in quick succession to cut the deficit to two. But Sweden responded swiftly, as Johansson notched his second of the game to restore the three-goal cushion. Mika Zibanejad added a late marker to seal a 6-2 victory and the bronze medal.

It was arguably Mikael Backlund’s best performance of the tournament. The veteran forward finished with two goals and an assist and was named player of the game. He wrapped up the tournament with three goals, six assists and a +7 rating — a strong showing on home ice.

Rasmus Andersson, on the other hand, had a quiet final game. He was held off the scoresheet and finished a minus-1, having been on the ice for both Danish goals. Despite that, Andersson had a strong overall tournament as captain, posting two goals and four assists and finishing with a bronze medal in front of Swedish fans.

This gold-medal clash was a rematch of an earlier round-robin meeting in which Switzerland blanked the Americans 3-0 — a victory that seemed to propel the Swiss into a string of dominant performances.

The first period was tight, with both teams registering 11 shots. Swiss netminder Leonardo Genoni, coming off back-to-back shutouts, was sharp again, making several key saves. At the other end, Jeremy Swayman matched him stop-for-stop.

In the second, the goalie duel continued. Genoni made one of his biggest stops of the game, turning aside Connor Garland on a penalty shot — one of his 17 saves in the frame. Still, the scoreboard remained unchanged after 40 minutes.

The third period followed a similar script, with the Americans pressing harder but neither side breaking through. After 60 minutes, the game remained deadlocked at 0-0.

Overtime would decide gold — and it didn’t take long. Just over two minutes into the extra frame, Tage Thompson fired a wrist shot from the top of the face-off circle that beat Genoni clean. It was the golden goal that clinched the title for the United States — their first IIHF World Championship gold medal in 93 years. Yes, you read that correctly.

For Switzerland, an outstanding tournament ended with their second straight silver medal. With strong performances throughout the lineup, they’ll look to carry that momentum into next year’s tournament — which they’ll host.

During the medal ceremony, a touching tribute from the American team saw them accept their gold medals while holding a Johnny Gaudreau jersey. Gaudreau, a mainstay of U.S. rosters in years past, is the program’s all-time leading scorer with 43 points.

Gold: 🇺🇸 United States
Silver: 🇨🇭 Switzerland
Bronze: 🇸🇪 Sweden

That marks the end of a thrilling tournament, filled with exciting storylines and strong performances — including several standout showings from Calgary Flames players representing various nations. With the Stanley Cup playoffs nearing their conclusion, attention now turns to the NHL Draft, where the Flames will be looking to make a splash in hopes of returning to the playoffs next season.