Get ready for the ride, boys and girls. The 2025 IIHF World Championship opened up in Sweden and Denmark on Friday, with USA, Finland, Sweden and Czechia banking wins to start the tourney. It started with a pair of close games, with Finland just edging out Austria 2-1, while Czechia needed overtime to beat Switzerland 5-4. The afternoon games were a lot more one-sided. The Swedes gave the home fans plenty to cheer about, beating a young Slovak team 5-0. USA, meanwhile, was in full control from the beginning, beating Denmark 5-0 to start off strong. Here’s a look at 22 players who stood out over the four games: Austria 1, Finland 2 #35 Atte Tolvanen, G: Tolvanen made his World Championship debut today – against his brother, Eeli. For reference, Atte previously played for Finland in three U-18 games back in 2011-12, but never in an official IIHF tournament. He has spent the past four years playing in Austria, which ultimately allowed him to join the national team. He made 26 saves today in a great effort against a strong Finnish team. It wasn’t a hugely busy night for him, but he looked good whenever tested. #96 Marco Kasper, C (Detroit Red Wings): Kasper didn’t register a point, but his NHL experience nearly came in handy in the third period. He had three shots in the final frame, peppering Juuse Saros down the stretch in an effort to tie the game. He’s the lone NHLer on the Austrian team and enters this tournament after an excellent rookie season. As expected, look for him to play an important role over the next two weeks. #61 Juuso Parssinen, LW (New York Rangers): Parssinen scored early in the first and it ended up holding on as the game-winner. The hard-nosed, energetic forward all over the ice, making some nice plays defensively. The Finns don’t have a ton of talent to work with and Parssinen hasn’t managed to break out in the NHL. But this tournament could allow him to turn some heads. #82 Harri Pesonen, C: Pesonen had a couple of good looks and snagged an assist on the game-winner at 7:06 in the first period. He had three shots, and another one that just missed an opening up high. The 36-year-old brings a ton of energy and power to the lineup and makes himself difficult to play against. I really like what I’ve seen from him across the board internationally this year. Czechia 5, Switzerland 4 (OT) #88 David Pastrnak, RW (Boston Bruins): Pastrnak played four games last year and had just one. It was the game-winning goal, but it was still a quiet week for him. Today’s performance was peak Pasta, registering a pair of assists – including on the game-winning goal. Pastrnak had three shots and none in overtime, but he was equally dangerous as a shooter and a passer. He seems to like playing in open space, too. Pastrnak joined the team after a playoff exit a year ago, but now that his full focus is on winning gold, watch out. #10 Roman Cervenka, C: The former NHLer isn’t slowing down at the age of 39. Named 2024 IIHF Male Player of the Year, Cervenka started this year’s tournament with a three-point effort, highlighted by the game-winner. Cervenka has 80 points in 98 career World Championship games – he’s only seven behind Ilya Kovalchuk for the most at this tournament in the 21st Century. Given the way he has played over the pat few years, it’s going to take a crazy downfall for it not to happen. #18 Filip Zadina, RW: Zadina doesn’t have a ton of men’s national team experience, but he looked great today. He had a goal and an assist en route to be named top player for Czechia. He just seemed engaged all game long and made some great passes through the neutral zone to help get plays going. His NHL days might be done for now, but we’ll see if he can continue building off of a good year with HC Davos. Switzerland #85 Sven Andrighetto, LW: Andrighetto hasn’t come close to matching his nine-point showing from 2018 in recent years, but he started things off today with a goal and a team-leading five shots. He seemed to be everywhere on the ice, and he truly looked lethal every time he entered the scoring zone. The Swiss aren’t too deep offensively so they’ll need Andrighetto to continue being a threat. #15 Gregory Hofmann, LW: The former Columbus Blue Jackets winger hasn’t played at his tournament since 2021, but he made a big impact in his return. He had a pair of assists, including on the opening goal at 1:34. He did a good job of getting the puck into scoring lanes, especially on the point. It was good to see him back at this tournament after watching him become a key piece during the latter part of the 2010s. #54 Christian Marti, D: Marti had a goal and an assist to finish as Switzerland’s most productive defender. It was an unusually offensively-minded game for Marti, who entered today with just one goal and four points in 35 previous games. The 6-foot-4 shutdown defender only played 14 minutes, but the magic seemed to follow. What a great showing from the 32-year-old. Slovakia 0, Sweden 5 #4 David Mudrak, D: It was hard to feel positive about the Slovaks as a whole, but I thought Mudrak looked good in heavy minutes. The 24-year-old is a tough-as-nails defender who plays a no-nonsense game, but he also defends quite well, too. He has never been too high on any scouting boards but it’ll be interesting to see if he turns some heads, given his old-school nature he plays. He’s also a decent puck distributor from what I’ve seen. #11 Mikael Backlund, C (Calgary Flames): Backlund had a pair of goals, and they were great plays. From perfect positioning on the 1-0 goal to a great read to set up the 4-0 play, Backlund was moving and grooving all game long. The veteran forward won battles with his pure strength, but he also showed plenty of high-end playmaking moves, too. Backlund’s production has fallen over the past few years, but he’s back to make noise internationally after last representing his nation in 2018. #56 Erik Gustafsson, D (Detroit Red Wings): The 33-year-old is one of the best puck-moving defenders in the tournament, and it was his excellent read that led to the 1-0 goal. He made plenty of great passes in the O-zone and didn’t get caught trying to do too much in his on zone. The Swedes have a deep blueline group to choose from for the 2026 Olympics, and Gustafsson might be the odd-man out – especially after a quiet season in Detroit. But if he can match what he did in 2022 – seven assists in eight games – he could wow the management staff enough to give him a serious look. #51 Emil Heineman, LW (Montreal Canadiens): Heineman made an excellent pass to make it 1-0 early for Sweden. He then played the hard back-checking game we’ve become used to seeing out of him in Montreal. Heineman does a lot of his damage off the scoresheet – mainly how he grinds guys down. Today, he gave Slovakia little room to move, and I liked that. #29 Marcus Pettersson, D (Vancouver Canucks): Pettersson had a pair of assists, with his pass on the Leo Carlsson 2-0 goal being his most impressive play. From there, he kept stopping the Slovaks from getting out of the neutral zone and made some great passes with the puck. We saw some of Pettersson’s more high-skilled plays on display in this one. Denmark 0, USA 5 #80 Frederik Dichow, G: Denmark was pestered early and often in this game and never seemed to have it easy around the crease. For the most part, the goals he allowed were on great American plays, more so than anything he did wrong. Dichow looks even quicker in the crease than we’ve seen in the past and he’s going to be counted on to steal a game or two as the rest of the month wears on. #92 Logan Cooley, C (Utah Mammoth): Cooley was buzzing all game long and was rewarded with the 2-0 goal. He was speedy, and I loved his skill on the bigger ice. I also thought he did a good job of getting back and helping out defensively, too. Overall, a great showing from the Mammoth star. #72 Tage Thompson, RW (Buffalo Sabres): When you’re as big as Thompson is, it’s easy to take up space around the net. He was difficult to move and did a good job of taking Dichow’s sightlines away. His work was instrumental on Cooley’s goal, and he then played a solid two-way game the rest of the way. Thompson is one of USA’s most experienced forwards and they’ll continue to rely on him over the next few weeks. #20 Andrew Peeke, D (Boston Bruins): Peeke used his powerful shot to help set up the 3-0 goal, which Matty Beniers ultimately knocked in. Peeke only had one goal in the NHL this year and two over the past two, but he does put some oomph behind his release when he gets the chance. Defensively, Peeke can struggle at points, but he did a good job of shutting the Danes down and getting pucks into the O-zone. #6 Mason Lohrei, D (Boston Bruins): The 4-0 goal was a bit of a fluke, but he still managed a two-point game. He looked great today – he just seemed to be firing anything he could at the net in an effort to make things happen. Lohrei is a tough defender to beat in his own zone but he showed some good offensive awareness in this one, too. #10 Matty Beniers, C (Seattle Kraken): There’s always a couple players who use this tournament as an opportunity to get their confidence rolling in time for the following NHL season. With two goals today, could Beniers be the next to do so? He won a physical battle in front for the 3-0 goals and then ripped home the 5-0 goal to cap off the night. It was great to see him so involved in the slot area today. #19 Cutter Gauthier, LW (Anaheim Ducks): Gauthier scored the opening goal and then set up the final marker on a great pass. He was outstanding at this tournament two years ago, and now that he has an NHL season under his belt, it’ll be interesting to see just how impactful he’ll be for USA again this time.