Denmark shocks Canada and its Flyers’ contingent in the World Championship quarterfinals

The 2025 IIHF World Championships had gone about as well as humanly possible for the quartet of Flyers playing this month in Denmark and Sweden.

But it all came crashing down in the span of 88 seconds on Thursday, as tournament favorites Canada, featuring Flyers stars Travis Sanheim, Travis Konecny, and Tyson Foerster, were shockingly knocked out in the quarterfinals by tournament co-host Denmark. The Danes, who are ranked 11th in the world and only have one full-time NHLer in Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers, scored twice in the final 2 minutes, 17 seconds of regulation to pull off the 2-1 upset. Former Flyers defenseman Oliver Lauridsen played in the game for Denmark.

Given that Canada, which sent a star-laden roster led by Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, had won the event a record 28 times, while Denmark had previously never finished higher than eighth, the victory will go down as one of the biggest upsets in World Championship history.

Canada, which won six of its seven group games and finished atop Group A with 19 of a possible 21 points, will not medal for the second consecutive year.

All three Flyers had strong tournaments for Canada, with Sanheim and Konecny looking to bolster their respective cases to be on the plane to Italy next February for the Olympics. NHL players will compete at the Games for the first time since 2014.

Sanheim probably did the most to help himself, as the 6-foot-4 blueliner had two goals, one assist, and was a plus-six in eight games. He ranked second among Canadian defensemen in average ice time (18:33) and consistently showed off his skating ability throughout the event, particularly jumping up into plays. Sanheim scored Canada’s lone goal on Thursday, but was on the ice late when Denmark scored twice.

Konecny, who was in and out of Canada’s lineup at February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, also didn’t do anything to tarnish his Olympic hopes. The Flyers winger was one of Canada’s top forwards throughout the tournament, playing in all situations, and tying with MacKinnon for the team lead with 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists) over the eight games. He finished at plus-nine, assisted on Sanheim’s goal on Thursday, and had a couple of other highlight-reel dishes during the tournament.

Finally, Foerster had a few bright moments as a younger player getting his first opportunity with the senior team. The 23-year-old had two goals and three points, scoring a beautiful goal against Sweden. Foerster, a restricted free agent, finished the season red-hot for the Flyers with nine goals in his final nine games and a career-high 25 for the season.

While the Flyers’ trio will be disappointed not to medal, each had encouraging moments as the team looks to take a step next season.

The Flyers still have one hope for a medal, as Sam Ersson’s Sweden will take on the United States on Saturday in the semifinals. Ersson, who has been backing up Jacob Markström, has a 3-0 record with a .961 save percentage and 0.67 goals against average in three games for Sweden.

Ersson, who made the most of his lone 4 Nations appearance with 32 saves on 33 shots in a 2-1 win over the U.S., will be in a tightly-contested battle for one of Sweden’s three goalie spots next February. The 25-year-old netminder, whose .883 save percentage was fourth-worst among NHL goalies to play 25 games, faces a crucial offseason as he attempts to prove he can be a No. 1 goalie in the NHL.