As we’re about to kick off another hockey season, let’s take a moment and look back at the phenomenal 2025-26 season that gave us so many memorable moments.
Here are ten of them.
Under-18 Women's World Championship
Lopusanova’s record chase
Slovakia’s Nela Lopusanova burst onto the scene in Sweden in 2023 when she scored a lacrosse style goal in their quarterfinal against the hosts, as a 14-year-old. Now, in her fourth tournament, Lopusanova was at 22 goals and 33 points, needing just one more to take the all-time top spot from Coyne Schofield. In their last game against Sweden, she attempted a repeat from the 2023 tournament, had the puck on her blade, and went for the Michigan. It didn’t go in, but the moment stayed.
Under-18 Men’s World Championship
Latvia shocks Team USA
The Latvians are used to creating upsets in IIHF tournaments, and in 2026 it was the under-18 men’s team’s turn. First, they recorded their biggest-ever win — 8-1 over Norway — and then they went on to beat Team USA in the quarterfinal.
The game was close but halfway through the third period, Magnuss Avotins blew it wide open when he turned on the jets in the neutral zone, leaving the American defender and backcheckers in the dust and scoring the eventual game-winner from the left faceoff dot. Latvia added a couple of empty-netters and won the game 5-2 to claim their first U18 World Juniors semifinal berth.
Here are ten of them.
Under-18 Women's World Championship
Lopusanova’s record chase
Slovakia’s Nela Lopusanova burst onto the scene in Sweden in 2023 when she scored a lacrosse style goal in their quarterfinal against the hosts, as a 14-year-old. Now, in her fourth tournament, Lopusanova was at 22 goals and 33 points, needing just one more to take the all-time top spot from Coyne Schofield. In their last game against Sweden, she attempted a repeat from the 2023 tournament, had the puck on her blade, and went for the Michigan. It didn’t go in, but the moment stayed.
Under-18 Men’s World Championship
Latvia shocks Team USA
The Latvians are used to creating upsets in IIHF tournaments, and in 2026 it was the under-18 men’s team’s turn. First, they recorded their biggest-ever win — 8-1 over Norway — and then they went on to beat Team USA in the quarterfinal.
The game was close but halfway through the third period, Magnuss Avotins blew it wide open when he turned on the jets in the neutral zone, leaving the American defender and backcheckers in the dust and scoring the eventual game-winner from the left faceoff dot. Latvia added a couple of empty-netters and won the game 5-2 to claim their first U18 World Juniors semifinal berth.
World Junior Championship
Frondell’s five-hole shootout winner
The Sweden-Finland semifinal was a real rollercoaster of a game. The Swedes scored on their first shot of the game, but the Finns tied it. The Swedes scored two more go-ahead goals — the Finns tied it both times. Both teams scored a goal where the puck hit the goalie’s back and bounced in. In the shootout, Anton Frondell, Sweden’s third shooter, beat Petteri Rimpinen with a sneaky shot through the Finnish goalie’s wickets.
Frondell’s five-hole shootout winner
The Sweden-Finland semifinal was a real rollercoaster of a game. The Swedes scored on their first shot of the game, but the Finns tied it. The Swedes scored two more go-ahead goals — the Finns tied it both times. Both teams scored a goal where the puck hit the goalie’s back and bounced in. In the shootout, Anton Frondell, Sweden’s third shooter, beat Petteri Rimpinen with a sneaky shot through the Finnish goalie’s wickets.
Swedish drought ends
Sweden hadn’t won the World Juniors in 14 years, and for a country where the tournament has become a holiday season tradition, it had been a long wait.
With two and a half minutes remaining in the game, the Swedes had a convincing 3-0 lead and were just waiting for the buzzer to mark the start of the celebrations.
Then it was 3-1. Then 3-2, with 23 seconds on the clock. Put the sodas back on ice.
In the next shift, a loose puck in the neutral zone, a Czech defender falls down, and Ivar Stenberg could backhand it into an empty net to seal the final score, 4-2.
Sweden hadn’t won the World Juniors in 14 years, and for a country where the tournament has become a holiday season tradition, it had been a long wait.
With two and a half minutes remaining in the game, the Swedes had a convincing 3-0 lead and were just waiting for the buzzer to mark the start of the celebrations.
Then it was 3-1. Then 3-2, with 23 seconds on the clock. Put the sodas back on ice.
In the next shift, a loose puck in the neutral zone, a Czech defender falls down, and Ivar Stenberg could backhand it into an empty net to seal the final score, 4-2.
The Olympic Games, Women
Alina Muller’s bronze-medal winning goal
Sweden and Switzerland went the distance in the 2026 Winter Olympics bronze medal game. With a minute remaining in the ten-minute overtime, Alina Muller had the puck on her stick as she carried it over the blueline — going towards the Swiss net.
She then turned around, and, gaining steam, took it back into the Swedish zone, with Ivana Wey in tow. Muller cut to the middle between two Swedes and dropped the puck to Wey who had a wide-open lane to the net. Instead of shooting, she found Muller who quickly fired the puck upstairs. A second later, her helmet flew even higher.
Megan Keller wins it for USA
It may have been a battle between the two best women’s teams ever to take the ice. Canadian superstar Marie-Philip Poulin had missed a few games in the tournament, but had returned to the playoff stage, and scored Canada’s two goals in their 2-1 semifinal win over Switzerland.
Team USA forced an OT when they tied the game with just 2:04 remaining in the game.
And then: Megan Keller. Only six seconds passed between Keller passing the puck to Taylor Heise in the US zone to getting it back on the far blue line, and another four seconds later, she made a daring move, deked the Canadian defender and backhanded the puck into the net.
The Olympic Games, Men
Slovakia’s youthful enthusiasm
Slovakia made the Group B battle for a direct advancement to the quarterfinal more interesting than anticipated when they beat Finland 4-1 in their opening game. Juraj Slafkovsky and Dalibor Dvorsky led the way in the offense, Simon Nemec was the king of the defense, in front of Samuel Hlavaj as the Slovaks won the group. It also involved some advanced tournament mathematics as both Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden ended up at six points. Hardly ever has a team celebrated their third goal in a 5-3 loss like the Slovaks celebrated Dvorsky’s late goal in the game against Sweden. For good reason, too. It bumped the Slovaks to the top of the standings and straight to the quarterfinal.
Jack Hughes’s golden goal
A minute and 24 seconds into the OT, Connor McDavid picked up speed — serious speed — and took on two Americans on his way toward the US net. He tried to get around Jack Hughes, a forward skating backwards, but couldn’t beat Connor Hellebuyck. Hughes was first to the puck; he kicked it to Zach Werenski whose backhand pass back to Hughes was short. So short that Cale Makar tried to intercept it, but missed, and Hughes could one-hand it forward. Nathan MacKinnon lost the puck battle to Werenski who turned around and saw Hughes wide open in the slot. Nineteen seconds after McDavid’s attempt, the game was over.
World Championship, Men
Noah Steen’s historic goal against Canada
Norway hadn’t made the Olympic tournament, but for them, 2026 is a year to remember. They got off to a great start, and the snowball never stopped rolling. They got to play for a medal for the first time, having beaten Sweden for the first time in the Worlds, taking Canada into OT, and then downing Latvia in the quarterfinal.
Few people in the Swiss Life Arena believed in Norway after Canada rallied back from 0-2 to tie the game with eight seconds remaining.
Then Noah Steen and Sander Hurrod got on a 2-on-1. Steen held on to the puck, and he held on to it a little longer, before firing a wrister from the right faceoff dot, beating Jet Greaves, giving Norway their first IIHF World Championship medal, a bronze in 2026.
Alina Muller’s bronze-medal winning goal
Sweden and Switzerland went the distance in the 2026 Winter Olympics bronze medal game. With a minute remaining in the ten-minute overtime, Alina Muller had the puck on her stick as she carried it over the blueline — going towards the Swiss net.
She then turned around, and, gaining steam, took it back into the Swedish zone, with Ivana Wey in tow. Muller cut to the middle between two Swedes and dropped the puck to Wey who had a wide-open lane to the net. Instead of shooting, she found Muller who quickly fired the puck upstairs. A second later, her helmet flew even higher.
Megan Keller wins it for USA
It may have been a battle between the two best women’s teams ever to take the ice. Canadian superstar Marie-Philip Poulin had missed a few games in the tournament, but had returned to the playoff stage, and scored Canada’s two goals in their 2-1 semifinal win over Switzerland.
Team USA forced an OT when they tied the game with just 2:04 remaining in the game.
And then: Megan Keller. Only six seconds passed between Keller passing the puck to Taylor Heise in the US zone to getting it back on the far blue line, and another four seconds later, she made a daring move, deked the Canadian defender and backhanded the puck into the net.
The Olympic Games, Men
Slovakia’s youthful enthusiasm
Slovakia made the Group B battle for a direct advancement to the quarterfinal more interesting than anticipated when they beat Finland 4-1 in their opening game. Juraj Slafkovsky and Dalibor Dvorsky led the way in the offense, Simon Nemec was the king of the defense, in front of Samuel Hlavaj as the Slovaks won the group. It also involved some advanced tournament mathematics as both Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden ended up at six points. Hardly ever has a team celebrated their third goal in a 5-3 loss like the Slovaks celebrated Dvorsky’s late goal in the game against Sweden. For good reason, too. It bumped the Slovaks to the top of the standings and straight to the quarterfinal.
Jack Hughes’s golden goal
A minute and 24 seconds into the OT, Connor McDavid picked up speed — serious speed — and took on two Americans on his way toward the US net. He tried to get around Jack Hughes, a forward skating backwards, but couldn’t beat Connor Hellebuyck. Hughes was first to the puck; he kicked it to Zach Werenski whose backhand pass back to Hughes was short. So short that Cale Makar tried to intercept it, but missed, and Hughes could one-hand it forward. Nathan MacKinnon lost the puck battle to Werenski who turned around and saw Hughes wide open in the slot. Nineteen seconds after McDavid’s attempt, the game was over.
World Championship, Men
Noah Steen’s historic goal against Canada
Norway hadn’t made the Olympic tournament, but for them, 2026 is a year to remember. They got off to a great start, and the snowball never stopped rolling. They got to play for a medal for the first time, having beaten Sweden for the first time in the Worlds, taking Canada into OT, and then downing Latvia in the quarterfinal.
Few people in the Swiss Life Arena believed in Norway after Canada rallied back from 0-2 to tie the game with eight seconds remaining.
Then Noah Steen and Sander Hurrod got on a 2-on-1. Steen held on to the puck, and he held on to it a little longer, before firing a wrister from the right faceoff dot, beating Jet Greaves, giving Norway their first IIHF World Championship medal, a bronze in 2026.
Konsta Helenius’s golden goal
Everything was set up for a Swiss home-ice celebration. The arena was packed; the parade had been planned for the next day. What a fairytale ending to a great tournament it would be if Switzerland would make it to the final for the third year in a row — and win it. But for a third year in a row, Switzerland was left off the scoresheet in the final, and for a second consecutive year, they lost the final in OT.
10:30 into the first OT, Konsta Helenius carried the puck deep into the Swiss zone, then used Anton Lundell as a decoy and climbed the wall into the slot, keeping a Swiss defender away from him with one arm before he fired a wrister that beat Leonardo Genoni, and steamrolled two Swiss players for good measure to start Finland’s fifth World Championship celebrations.
Everything was set up for a Swiss home-ice celebration. The arena was packed; the parade had been planned for the next day. What a fairytale ending to a great tournament it would be if Switzerland would make it to the final for the third year in a row — and win it. But for a third year in a row, Switzerland was left off the scoresheet in the final, and for a second consecutive year, they lost the final in OT.
10:30 into the first OT, Konsta Helenius carried the puck deep into the Swiss zone, then used Anton Lundell as a decoy and climbed the wall into the slot, keeping a Swiss defender away from him with one arm before he fired a wrister that beat Leonardo Genoni, and steamrolled two Swiss players for good measure to start Finland’s fifth World Championship celebrations.