19-year-old Macklin Celebrini has been named captain of Team Canada for the 2026 World Championship. The Canadian national team announced the captain and alternate captains for the tournament. Celebrini, a forward for the San Jose Sharks who made his national team debut at the 2026 Olympics, will lead the squad. Alternate captains are 35-year-old Nashville Predators forward Ryan O’Reilly and 35-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares.
The 2026 World Hockey Championship will take place from May 15 to 31 in the Swiss cities of Zurich and Fribourg. Canada’s group includes Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Norway, and Slovenia.
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The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) has unveiled the medals for the 2025/2026 season champions and prize winners. One side of the medal features the Gagarin Cup and the KHL logo, while the other depicts two hockey players. Both sides include “Championship of the Kontinental Hockey League” in Russian and English.
The Gagarin Cup winner will be decided in the final series between Yaroslavl’s Lokomotiv and Kazan’s Ak Bars. The first game of the series is scheduled for Monday, May 11, in Yaroslavl. Bronze medals will go to Omsk’s Avangard and Magnitogorsk’s Metallurg.
MHK Spartak rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat Avto 5-4 in Game 7 of the Kharlamov Cup semifinals, reaching the final for the second consecutive season.
By the ninth minute, the red-and-whites trailed 0-3 but cut the deficit before the end of the first period and tied it in the second. Early in the third period, Spartak conceded a goal but equalized just 27 seconds later. At the 59-minute mark, they took the lead and sealed the 5-4 victory.
Scorers for Avto included Lavr Gashilov, Ivan Gubin, Alexander Pimin, and Maxim Velikov. For Spartak, Danila Sysoev scored twice, while Maxim Filimonov, Gleb Perelygin, and Evgeny Yakunin each added a goal.
Spartak will face Loko in the final.
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In the VHL, Khimik from Voskresensk became the first finalist of the playoffs, defeating Novokuznetsk’s Metallurg 4-2 in Game 6 of the semifinal series. The suburban Moscow team won the series 4-2.
