Team Canada playing like they know there's more at stake than usual at 2026 World Championship

The 2026 IIHF World Championship has reached Day 5, and teams have now played two or three games to this point.

Team Canada completed their third game of the tournament on Monday, keeping their perfect record intact with a 5-1 victory over Denmark.

Though the World Championship isn’t a best-on-best international competition like the Olympics or World Cup, Canada needs to continue to dominate.

The Canadians have suffered many defeats lately at the hands of the Americans in men’s, women’s, and even para hockey in recent tournaments. So it’ll be key for Hockey Canada to get back to winning ways, and their start to the 2026 World Championship is putting the team on the right path.

Considering the hockey giant that Canada is, it’s puzzling that they’ve won just a pair of World Championship titles in the last nine competitions. Their last title came in 2023, when they defeated Germany in the gold-medal game.

MORE: You'd Think Sidney Crosby Would Be Too Old (And Too Tired) To Represent Canada At Worlds

This year, however, it’s hard to knock Canada, as they appear to be the favorites so far. Canada leads the tournament in goals and has outscored its opponents 16-4 in those three contests.

It must be noted that Canada does have an advantage in terms of its roster.

Other teams, such as Team USA, took a different approach, selecting young, inexperienced players to represent them.

But Canada practically picked the best team they could, selecting several star players who haven’t been occupied with the Stanley Cup playoffs.

MORE: Celebrini's Captaincy For Canada's 2026 World Championship Team Just A Glimpse Of What He'll Become

No other roster at the World Championship can match the skill, talent, leadership, and experience with players such as Sidney Crosby, Macklin Celebrini, Mark Scheifele, Evan Bouchard, John Tavares, Ryan O’Reilly, Robert Thomas, and more.

Even though Canada is always the favorite to win an international hockey tournament, this is, for the most part, a critical competition for the Canadians, and they need that gold medal.

More NHL News

• 4 intriguing Edmonton Oilers head coach targets
• 5 items Maple Leafs GM John Chayka must address this summer
• Jack Eichel, Chris Chelios are wrong about the history of Mitch Marner and the Maple Leafs
• Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad or Adam Fox; Who can the Rangers trade to kick-start their retool?
• 3 NHL trade fits for Dallas Stars' Jason Robertson