Team Canada’s women’s hockey opener will have to wait
The women’s hockey tournament at Milano Cortina 2026 is off to an unexpected start for Team Canada.
The Canadians were scheduled to play their Olympic opener on Thursday against Finland. Instead, the defending gold medalists took to the ice for a practice after the game was postponed by a norovirus outbreak impacting a large portion of Finland’s roster.
“First, our thoughts are with Finland,” Team Canada general manager Gina Kingsbury told reporters Thursday evening. “Obviously you work four years to come to the Olympic Games and we know what it means to represent your country and to be in the tournament. To fall sick and have a group of athletes that are under the weather the way they are, we feel for them and obviously we wish them a speedy recovery.”
READ: Team Canada’s women’s Olympic hockey team revealed for Milano Cortina 2026
The Canada-Finland game will now be played on Feb. 12 at 8:30 a.m. ET, which will be the final day of action in the preliminary round. Kingsbury added that, in her conversations with tournament organizers and Finnish officials, the idea of a forfeit was never a consideration.
“The solution they came up with was being able to postpone the game until the 12th and we were asked if we’d be willing to do so. I think in the spirit of the Games and wanting to compete and making sure we’re doing so in a safe manner is our priority so we felt it was a good option and a responsible decision for us to postpone.”
Team Canada’s first game will now be on Saturday at 3:10 p.m. ET against Switzerland. 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.
At the Beijing tournament, Canada defeated Finland 11-1 in the preliminary round. The Finns went on to win bronze, improving their Olympic medal count in women’s hockey to four—all of which have been bronze.
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. 5-12 with games split between the Milano Rho Arena and Milano Santagiulia Arena. Along with their tournament opener against Switzerland and the postponed matchup with Finland, Canada will face Czechia on Monday at 3:10 p.m. ET and then wrap things up with a major matchup against the Americans on Tuesday 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.
