Canada's IIHF World Championship comes to shocking result against NHL-less Norway

Sure, Canada brought only two 2026 Olympians to the IIHF World Championships this month.

But those two Olympians were Sidney Crosby and Macklin Celebrini, and this was still Canada.

There's long been curiosity about how far Canada's 'B' team could go in an international tournament, and these Worlds provided a bit of a look at that.

The shocking part is that they didn't even medal.

Canada was defeated in the semifinals by Finland, but that wasn't all.

With a chance to at least claim the bronze medal, Canada lost to Norway.

Norway has no full-time NHL players on its roster:

MORE: Max Domi's surgery had something go 'terribly wrong'

This result already has people comparing the number of ice rinks in all of Norway just to the number of ice rinks in Toronto.

It also has some Canadian fans complaining about the larger size of the ice in international play.

In reality, this is just an incredible story for Norway, which does feature some promising younger players who could seize sizable NHL roles soon enough.

Canada couldn't quite find its groove during this tournament, and some of the European teams have. So the Canadians are going home without a medal, yet another disappointment after failing to win gold at the Olympics.

More NHL news:

• A special, emotional moment for K'Andre Miller
• Henrik Sedin's son is excelling in a different sport
• Elias Petersson trade plans may be missing a key point
• Would the Maple Leafs trade Easton Cowan?
• Alex Ovechkin's mom is playing a role in his retirement decision