The 2025 IIHF World Championship is officially underway, with four games on the opening-day slate and plenty of Calgary Flames-related storylines to follow.

Day one began with a match-up between Czechia and Switzerland. Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka started for Czechia, while Flames netminder Dan Vladar backed up. Vladar should see at least a game in net for the Czechs, but it looks to be Vejmelka the majority of the time. Fellow Flame Adam Klapka was a notable scratch for the Czech squad.

It was 39-year-old Roman Cervenka who led the way for Czechia, posting three points—including the overtime winner—in a 5–4 win. The name Cervenka may ring a bell for Flames fans. That would be because all the way back in the 2012-13 season, Cervenka attempted his one and only try at carving out a career in the NHL. In 39 games with the Flames, Cervenka recorded nine goals and eight assists in the lockout shortened season.

The second game of the day featured Finland taking on Austria. Though there were no past or present Flames on either roster – or much NHL players at all for that matter – it was still a competitive game in which Finland secured the 2-1 victory aided by a late disallowed Austrian goal.

It would’ve been exciting to see Matt Coronato and his lethal wrist shot in action, but Flames fans don’t need to worry as he recently signed a long-term deal, keeping him in Calgary for the foreseeable future.

Even without Coronato, Team USA cruised to a dominant 5–0 win over Denmark, out-shooting them 48–26 in the process.

In the most relevant game of the day for Flames fans, Sweden’s match-up against Slovakia was another one-sided affair.

On the Slovakian side, Sam Honzek had a tough outing. He logged the second-lowest ice time among Slovakian skaters at just 13:28, was on the receiving end of a few big hits, and took a bad holding penalty in the third period. Slovakia was thoroughly outmatched, managing just one shot in the final frame.

For the host Swedes, it was a game led by Flames—both past and present.

Flames captain Mikael Backlund opened the scoring, finishing a nice setup by former Flames prospect Emil Heineman and ex-Flame Elias Lindholm. Backlund later added an assist on Sweden’s fourth goal, also scored by Lindholm.

Sweden captain Rasmus Andersson also had a strong showing. He earned a primary assist on Mika Zibanejad’s third-period goal and posted a team-leading plus-3 rating. Jacob Markstrom backed the effort with a 15-save shutout as Sweden rolled to a 5–0 win—just the start they wanted in front of their home crowd.

MacKenzie Weegar is set to make his tournament debut as Team Canada opens against Slovenia at 4:20 a.m. MT. If you’re not up that early, you can still catch Backlund and Andersson later in the day when Sweden faces Austria at 8:20 a.m. MT.

Other day two match-ups include:

Follow along here for daily recaps and updates on how your Calgary Flames are performing at the IIHF World Championship.