Team Canada set to play Finland in Olympic women’s hockey opener
The wait is almost over.
The women’s hockey tournament at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games begins on Thursday with Team Canada set to close out the day’s action with a matchup against Finland. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.
The Canadians will look to get their Olympic Games off to a strong start as they try to defend their gold medal from Beijing 2022, a tournament that saw Canada defeat Finland 11-1 in the preliminary round. Finland went on to win bronze in Beijing, improving their Olympic medal count in women’s hockey to four—all of which have been bronze.
READ: Team Canada’s women’s Olympic hockey team revealed for Milano Cortina 2026
Canada and Finland have met several times since Beijing, including twice at last April’s IIHF Women’s World Championship. Jenn Gardiner scored twice and added an assist in Canada’s 5-0 win over Finland in preliminary round play while Claire Thompson registered a goal and two assists to help the Canadians win 8-1 in the semifinals. Canada would lose 4-3 in overtime to the United States in the gold medal game.
That world championship loss will no doubt be on the minds of Team Canada in Italy. Canada also lost to the United States in the preliminary round of the 2025 Worlds and recently dropped all four games to their North American rivals in this season’s Rivalry Series.
While there is an expectation that Canada and the United States will meet in the gold medal game at Milano Cortina 2026—the two have met in the championship game in six of the seven Olympic Winter Games that have included women’s hockey—both have work to do to reach that point.
Both Canada and the United States will play in Group A along with Finland, Czechia and Switzerland. Group B will consist of Germany, Sweden, Japan, Italy and France.
The tournament’s preliminary round will take place Feb. 5-10 with games split between the Milano Rho Arena and Milano Santagiulia Arena. Following their tournament opener on Thursday, Canada will take on Switzerland on Saturday, Czechia on Monday and then wrap things up with a major matchup against the Americans on Tuesday. All of Canada’s preliminary round games will begin at 3:10 p.m. ET with the exception of the USA game, which will start at 2:10 p.m. ET.
Quarterfinals will take place Feb. 13-14 followed by the semifinals on Feb. 16. The gold and bronze medal games will be held on Feb. 19.
Canada has won gold in five of the seven Olympic women’s hockey tournaments and took silver in the other two. This year’s Canadian squad includes 16 players who helped win gold at Beijing 2022.
The six top scorers at the Beijing tournament were all Canadian. Sarah Nurse led the way with 18 points (five goals and 13 assists) followed closely by captain Marie-Philip Poulin‘s 17 points (six goals and 11 assists). Brianne Jenner led the tournament in goals with nine.
Nurse is averaging slightly over a point-per-game this season with the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Vancouver Goldeneyes but has appeared in just five games due to an injury. She is set to play in her third Olympic Games.
Jenner, who is poised to play in her fourth Olympic Games, sits fifth in PWHL scoring with eight goals and seven assists in 15 games with the Ottawa Charge. Poulin, who will be playing in her fifth Olympic Games, sits seventh in league scoring with seven goals and seven assists in 15 games with the Montreal Victoire.
While Canada’s roster is highlighted by Olympic veterans, there will also be seven players who are set to make their Olympic debuts. That includes Gardiner, who finished second in scoring at last year’s IIHF Women’s World Championship with six goals and four assists in seven games.
