Hockey Canada Names Coaching Staff For 2025 IIHF World Championship
Hockey Canada has named its coaching staff for the 2025 IIHF World Championship, per a Hockey Canada release.
With two weeks to go until heading to Sweden for the tournament, Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason has been tabbed as the leader for Team Canada after serving as an assistant coach at the 2024 IIHF World Championship. The 60-year-old just finished his first season in Columbus after spending six seasons as an assistant and head coach of the Minnesota Wild. Evason appeared in 803 career games in the NHL, scoring 372 points and securing 1,002 career penalty minutes.
Joining Evason is his assistant coach in Columbus Steve McCarthy, who is set to make his international coaching debut. McCarthy had a solid run as a player in the NHL, suiting up in more than 300 games for the Blackhawks, Canucks, and Thrashers. He has been an assistant coach in the league for four seasons and also spent five years as an assistant in the AHL. Nashville Predators head coach Andrew Brunette will also take on an assistant role, giving Evason a fellow coach with head coaching experience to rely on. Brunette had a lengthy NHL career, appearing in 1,000 games and scoring 733 career points.
Fellow NHL head coach Ryan Huska (Calgary Flames) will also join the staff, bringing additional leadership and insight to the bench. The 49-year-old appeared in one career NHL game with the Blackhawks. Before joining the Flames, he served as head coach of their AHL affiliates for four years and spent 12 years before that as an assistant coach in the AHL. Rounding out the coaching staff, Calgary’s James Emery will serve as the team’s director of performance analysis.
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas, who also currently serves as Hockey Canada’s general manager, said of the coaching staff:
“Dean, Andrew, Ryan and Steve are excellent NHL coaches that bring many years of professional experience and leadership, and we are thrilled that they will lead Team Canada at the 2025 world championship,” Dubas said. “Our coaching staff will also be supported by an elite support staff that has many years of NHL experience, as well as experience at several world championships and Olympics, and we know our entire staff will create an environment for our players to succeed and wear the Maple Leaf with pride in Stockholm and Herning.”
Atlantic Notes: Pastrňák, Lauko, Xhekaj, Tavares
Team Czechia got a boost to their repeat efforts for the 2025 IIHF World Championships. The Boston Bruins announced that star winger David Pastrňák and depth forward Jakub Lauko would play for their native country during this year’s rendition of the international competition.
It’ll be the sixth time Pastrňák has played in the tournament, as he’s usually joined Team Czechia relatively quickly after the Bruins have been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. He helped Czechia win the gold medal last year, tallying one goal in four contests. Throughout his career, Pastrňák has scored 14 goals and 30 points in 32 tournament contests, additionally helping Czechia to a bronze medal in 2022.
Meanwhile, Lauko will participate in his first international tournament since the 2019-20 IIHF World Junior Championships. He was typically an unnoteworthy player in those tournaments, scoring one goal and three points in 12 games throughout three tournaments.
Other notes from the Atlantic Division:
- Due to some extracurricular activity before Game 4 between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals, the league’s Department of Player Safety decided to bestow some punishments. The Department of Player Safety announced they’ve fined Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj $3,385.42, the maximum allowable under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, for unsportsmanlike conduct during warm-ups of yesterday’s contest. The league didn’t allude to any specific actions from Xhekaj, but he was seen exchanging words with a few Capitals players from his side of the red line.
- Despite failing to close the series in Game 4, the Toronto Maple Leafs have avoided a serious injury to one of their top centers. According to TSN’s Chris Johnston, a concussion spotter pulled Maple Leafs forward John Tavares during overtime in Game 4, but he cleared the tests to return. The concussion spotter’s worry likely came from Tavares receiving a high hit from Ottawa Senators defenseman Artem Zub in front of Ottawa’s net, which made contact with Tavares’ head.
West Notes: Landeskog, Copley, George, Vilardi, Ehlers, Hronek
After flirting with an official comeback in Games 1 & 2, Gabriel Landeskog will suit up for the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3. The NHL proudly announced that Landeskog will play in his first game for the first time in 1,032 days.
Landeskog’s return to the NHL minutes is one of the most remarkable comebacks in professional sports. After captaining the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship in 2022, the Swedish winger underwent arthroscopic knee surgery, which is an operation more inclined to return an individual to a generic standard of mobility rather than professional sports. Through intense willpower, Landeskog was able to overcome.
It’ll be important for the rest of the Avalanche, too. Based on multiple interviews with players on the team, the void of Landeskog has been present for some time, and having him back in the lineup, even for a few shifts, should lead to intense motivation.
Other notes from the Western Conference:
- The Los Angeles Kings have switched up their emergency third goalies for Game 2. The Kings announced they’ve recalled netminder Carter George from their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, and have reassigned Pheonix Copley in a corresponding roster move. Should George play, which is incredibly unlikely, it would be the first NHL appearance of his career.
- There are a few injury updates for the Winnipeg Jets as their opening-round series transitions to St. Louis. Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press reported that forward Gabriel Vilardi will travel with the team while Nikolaj Ehlers will not. Still, it’s important to note that Vilardi has yet to practice without a non-contact jersey, meaning he could remain a ways away from returning.
- Team Czechia will have a quality defenseman join them for their IIHF World Championship gold medal repeat bid. Earlier today, it was announced that Vancouver Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek will join his international team for the upcoming tournament. It’ll be the first time since the summer of 2022 that Hronek has played in the tournament when he tallied two assists in 10 contests.
Evening Notes: Kane, Klingberg, Team USA, Backlund, Alexeyev
After giving up six goals on 30 shots, it was clear throughout Game One that the Edmonton Oilers could use some reinforcements. According to Sportsnet’s Jack Michaels, that could be a realistic possibility relatively soon.
Michaels publicized a note from Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch indicating that there’s a “very good possibility” Edmonton will have forward Evander Kane and defenseman John Klingberg for Game 2 in their opening-round series against the Los Angeles Kings. Neither player offers much in the defensive zone, but could prove valuable on the Oilers’ forecheck.
Kane will be the most interesting of the two to reinsert into the lineup. Despite letting in six goals, Edmonton still produced five, meaning Kane could give them the offensive edge to win the one-goal contests if their defense and goaltending struggle. Meanwhile, Klingberg failed to garner much offensive consistency with the Oilers in limited action this year, scoring one goal and four points in 11 games.
Other evening notes:
- Earlier today, USA Hockey announced the rest of their coaching staff for the 2025 IIHF World Championships. According to the announcement, Mike Vellucci (Pittsburgh Penguins), Kevin Dean (Chicago Blackhawks), and Adam Nightingale (Michigan State University) will serve as assistant coaches to head coach Ryan Warsofsky. Meanwhile, Thomas Speer has been named the team’s goaltending coach, while Nick Gialdini (San Jose Sharks) and Lawrence Feloney (Nashville Predators) will be the team’s video coaches.
- On the other side of the bracket, the Calgary Flames announced an important for Team Sweden this afternoon. The Flames shared that captain Mikael Backlund will participate in the World Championships for Sweden for the first time in seven years. Backlund delivered an outstanding performance in the 2018 IIHF World Championships, scoring two goals and accumulating nine points in 10 games, which helped lead Sweden to consecutive gold medals.
- Despite winning in overtime in Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens, the Washington Capitals had an injury scare late in the third period when defenseman Alexander Alexeyev left the game due to being high-sticked by Jake Evans. Fortunately, Alexeyev’s absence will not be lengthy, as Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports he will rejoin the lineup tomorrow night. It’s an important injury update for the Capitals as the team recently lost defenseman Martin Fehérváry for the postseason due to knee surgery.
NHL Announces 2028 World Cup Of Hockey
With the start of the 4 Nations Face-Off just hours away, it seems the NHL is already establishing plans to deepen its international footprint. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh have plans to announce the 2028 World Cup of Hockey tournament that’d split games between North America and Europe, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The World Cup will be a mid-season tournament scheduled over the usual All-Star Break, like the 4 Nations Face-Off. LeBrun adds that this news sets up international, best-on-best hockey every two years until 2036 – with hope for a timeline that includes the Winter Olympics in 2026, 2030, and 2034 and the World Cup in 2028, 2032, and 2036.
Perhaps more exciting is the return to the name ‘World Cup,’ suggesting that more countries will be involved than the four represented at the 4 Nations tournament. This would inevitably require the involvement of professional leagues around the world, as neither Czechia nor Slovakia have enough NHL players to staff an NHL-exclusive roster.
The naming of a worldwide tournament will also lead to the eventual question of Russia’s involvement. The country has been expelled from international play since the 2021 World Championship, where they fell to Team Canada in the quarterfinals. The IIHF recently reviewed Russia and Belarus’ eligibility for international competition but chose to maintain the expulsion through the 2025-26 season due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Hall-of-Famer Pavel Bure was chosen to represent Russia in recent conversations with the IIHF and, citing concerns over player safety, shared that Russia would be willing to finance additional security if it meant allowing “fans across the planet to watch one of the world’s best teams in action again.”
The IIHF’s decision will only apply to events they sanction – that decision only applies to IIHF-sanctioned events, and both the NHL and International Olympic Committee will still need to make their own decisions on whether Russia should play in their events. The NHL moving towards potentially biannual meetings between national clubs sets up an inevitable, and potentially precarious decision on Russia’s eligibility.
Russia, Belarus Remain Expelled From 2025-26 IIHF Competition, Olympic Participation Undecided
The IIHF announced Tuesday that the Russian and Belarusian national teams will remain barred from competition for at least another year. The International Olympic Committee still has to decide whether to include the former in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
However, that means the clubs won’t be able to field squads for the 2026 World Championship or the 2026 World Juniors, among other competitions. This marks the fourth straight competition season without the two countries. “As the current security conditions do not allow the necessary requirements for the organization of tournaments guaranteeing the safety of all, the IIHF must maintain the current status quo until further notice,” the international governing body said in a statement.
The IIHF initially suspended all Russian and Belarusian national teams and clubs in February 2022 following the former country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine with Belarusian support. By May 2026, they will determine whether it’s “safe to reincorporate” the two countries into international play for the 2026-27 season.
Belarus was already disqualified from next year’s Olympics because it was barred from participating in the required qualification tournament. Russia, whose world ranking is high enough that it doesn’t need a qualification tournament to get in, could still field a team for the tournament if the IOC allows it. No Russian or Belarusian teams were allowed to participate in any sport at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Still, some individuals from both countries participated under an Individual Neutral Athletes banner.
“One of the IIHF’s arguments for not permitting Russia to compete in its tournaments is the issue of safety,” ex-NHLer and Russian Hockey Federation representative Pavel Bure told Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff. “In our opinion, this argument does not hold enough strength. More than 50 Russians play in the NHL. Russian swimmers, chess players and representatives of other sports are participating in international competitions without any incidents being recorded. One of our suggestions was to finance additional security for Russia, in order to allow fans across the planet to watch one of the world’s best teams in action again.“
NHL Expected To Announce Next World Cup Of Hockey
TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that the NHL and the NHLPA intend to move forward with a 2028 World Cup of Hockey without the involvement of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Both the league and the players’ union are hopeful they can make an announcement at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-off that will take place from February 12th – February 20th in Boston and Montreal.
The NHL players have not participated in an international tournament (outside of the IIHF World Championships) since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey but could conceivably have three international tournaments in the next four years if you include the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
A 2028 World Cup of Hockey would be the fourth time the tournament has taken place with the last three happening in 1996, 2004, and the aforementioned 2016. The last World Cup took place in Toronto and was won by Canada with Sidney Crosby taking home the tournament MVP. Eight teams participated in the tournament alongside Canada (the United States, Finland, Czechia, Russia, Sweden, and two all-star teams). A future World Cup of Hockey would likely follow a similar template.
If the IIHF remains on the sidelines for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, it will mean that the NHL will have the final say on who will be able to participate in the tournament.
Morning Notes: Daugavins, Norris, Crosby
The IIHF reports that former NHL forward Kaspars Daugavins has retired. The 36-year-old’s announcement caught many by surprise as he has been very productive in recent seasons including this year in Slovakia’s top league Tipos Extraliga, where he has posted six goals and 14 assists in 19 games.
Daugavins was a third-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2006 (91st overall) and played seven seasons in the organization, including parts of three seasons in the NHL. Daugavins played 85 games with the Senators before he was plucked off waivers by the Boston Bruins in March of 2013. He played just six games with the Bruins before making his way to Europe the next season. During his brief NHL career, Daugavins registered six goals and nine assists while averaging just over 11 minutes of ice-time per game.
In other morning notes:
- Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff mentioned on Daily Faceoff Live that Ottawa Senators forward Josh Norris has had his name come up in conversations that the Senators have been having, presumably with other teams. Ottawa has struggled out of the gate this season and has failed to live up to expectations once again. Their core is signed to significant long-term deals, and Norris is one player who hasn’t lived up to his paycheck. That being said, moving Norris would be very difficult given his cap hit and injury history. The 25-year-old has been decent offensively this year, posting eight goals and six assists in 21 games while starting 56% of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone.
- Sidney Crosby’s off-season extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins appears to have done nothing to cool the trade rumors that continue to be pushed out about him. On yesterday’s edition of TSN Overdrive, Bryan Hayes floated out what a potential Crosby trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs would look like. A deal involving the two sides is highly unlikely, given Kyle Dubas’ history with the Maple Leafs and Crosby’s desire to finish his career in Pittsburgh. However, thanks to the Penguins’ massive struggles as of late, a Crosby trade out of Pittsburgh doesn’t look as impossible as it did a month ago. Pittsburgh figures to be busy in the coming months if they don’t turn things around. However, the chances that Crosby is moved remain relatively close to zero.
Snapshots: Swayman, Benn, Gelinas, Olympics
Earlier today, Bruins president Cam Neely implied that the team had made a $64MM offer to restricted free agent goaltender Jeremy Swayman in an effort to get a deal done. It would appear that this is the first that Swayman’s camp has heard of it. SPM Sports released the following statement from Swayman’s agent Lewis Gross via various social media platforms:
Normally, I do not release statements or discuss negotiations through the media. However, in this case, I feel I need to defend my client. At today’s press conference, $64 million was referenced. This was the first time that number was discussed in our negotiations. Prior to the press conference, no offer was made reaching that level.
We are extremely disappointed. This was not fair to Jeremy. We will take a few days to discuss where we go from here.
Earlier today, it was revealed that newly-acquired backup Joonas Korpisalo would be their opening-night starter. Between that and now Swayman’s camp saying that they’ll take a few days to discuss next steps, it’s fair to say that this contract isn’t getting resolved for a little while longer.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- The Stars won’t discuss a new contract in-season with captain Jamie Benn, relays Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. Don’t interpret that as a sign that one of the sides doesn’t want to do something as GM Jim Nill indicated he approached Benn to see what he wanted to do while making it clear that he sees a spot for the veteran as long as he’s in charge. However, Benn decided he wants to wait until after the season for any discussions. The 35-year-old has spent his entire 15-year career in Dallas, amassing over 900 points including 60 in 82 games last season.
- Veteran defenseman Eric Gelinas has decided to try to give it another go in North America. The AHL’s Laval Rocket announced (Twitter link) that they have invited the 33-year-old to their training camp. Gelinas has 189 career NHL appearances under his belt, the last of which came in 2016-17. He spent the following year in Laval before bouncing around, seeing time in Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and nine games with AHL Chicago over the last six seasons.
- The IIHF announced that they hope to add a three-on-three ice hockey tournament to the 2030 Olympics for both men’s and women’s hockey. These events would not replace the existing tournaments but would merely add to the sport’s representation, similar to three-on-three basketball at the recently-ended Summer Games. A decision on whether those events will be added is expected in March.
Hall Of Fame Executive Murray Costello Passes Away
Former Hockey Canada president Murray Costello has passed away at the age of 90. Costello was a pillar of Canadian hockey, with an executive career spanning over 50 years. Much of that was spent in decision-making roles with Hockey Canada and the IIHF, where Costello played a pivotal role in the growth of both junior and women’s hockey internationally. He earned induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005 – the only builder inducted in a year that also enshrined Cam Neely and Valeri Kharlamov.
Costello’s career began with the 1953-54 Chicago Blackhawks, who signed him from a St. Michael’s Major team that featured many future professionals, including long-time NHL goalie and coach Ed Chadwick. Costello scored five points in 40 games during his rookie season, pushing the Blackhawks to trade him to the Boston Bruins. But Costello couldn’t find his groove in New England either, leading to a trade to the Detroit Red Wings in 1956 and a move away from the NHL entirely in 1957. He concluded his career with 32 points and 54 penalty minutes in 162 games.
Costello would go on to support some minor professional teams and junior hockey programs in Seattle. But he’d ultimately work his way back to Canada, assuming the role of president of Hockey Canada in 1979. The role brought major oversight of Canada’s national programs, which allowed Costello to form Canada’s first national U21 team in 1982 and set up the first IIHF Women’s World Championship in 1990. He also championed the merger of CAHA and Hockey Canada in 1994, bringing together amateur and junior hockey across Canada. Costello moved to a council role with the IIHF in 1998, where he stayed until his retirement in 2012.
The strides of junior and women’s hockey in the years since sit largely on Costello’s innovations. Fellow Hall-of-Famer Angela James emphasized that point to the CBC’s Emma Weller, saying, “You don’t always see who the people are that are advocating for your sport, but I know that Murray Costello was one of them.” James added that Murray’s support of the 1990 Women’s Worlds – where she joined Team Canada in winning an inaugural gold medal – was ample show of that support.
Costello’s career is marked by countless accolades, including additions into the IIHF Hall of Fame, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, and ‘Order of Hockey in Canada’. It stands as a true legacy, built on a passion for expanding opportunity to the game. PHR sends our condolences to Costello’s family and friends.