GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. FINLAND (FEB. 12)
One week after the originally scheduled game was postponed due to a norovirus outbreak, Canada’s Women’s Olympic Team faces Finland in the preliminary-round finale at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Last Game
Canada suffered its first loss in Milan on Tuesday, falling 5-0 to the United States. Ann-Renée Desbiens made 22 saves to become the third goaltender to record 1,000 in her Team Canada career, joining Shannon Szabados (1,428) and Kim St-Pierre (1,366). Laura Stacey led the offence with four shots on goal.
Finland downed Switzerland 3-1 on Tuesday for its first win. Viivi Vainikka opened the scoring early in the second period, Sanni Vanhanen had a goal and an assist and Julia Liikala rounded out the Finnish scoring.
Last Meeting
On the Olympic stage, the Canadians and Finns met in Group A action in Beijing, with Canada earning an 11-1 win. Sarah Fillier opened the scoring just 61 seconds into the game. Brianne Jenner and Sarah Nurse each recorded hat tricks, with Jenner adding an assist for a four-point performance, and Natalie Spooner had four helpers.
More recently, Canada faced Finland in the semifinals of the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship, recording a 8-1 win to secure a spot in the gold medal game. Daryl Watts scored twice and Claire Thompson had a goal and two assists for the Canadians, who scored the final eight goals after the Finns struck in the game’s first minute.
What to Watch
Canada has the top power play in the tournament so far, converting on five of 11 opportunities through three games. Leading the way on the player advantage is Julia Gosling—she has three power-play goals, tying the Canadian single-tournament Olympic record held by Therese Brisson (1998) and Gillian Apps (2006). On the back end, Renata Fast has been a workhorse, averaging 22:26 of ice time per game. That ranks her 16th among all skaters, 11th among defenders and fourth among players in Group A. Only one other Canadian has reached 20 minutes (Jocelyne Larocque—20:07), and no one else has cracked 18 minutes (Sarah Fillier leads Canadian forwards at 17:52).
Outside of Canada and the United States, Finland has won the most Olympic medals—taking home four bronze (1998, 2010, 2018, 2022). There are six Finns making their Olympic debuts (Ahola, Ida Kuoppala, Emilia Kyrkkö, Julia Schalin, Elli Suoranta and Siiri Yrjölä) and four who play in the PWHL (Ahola – Ottawa, Michelle Karvinen – Vancouver, Ronja Savolainen – Ottawa, Susanna Tapani – Boston). This is the fifth Olympics for Karvienen and the fourth for Tapani. And let’s not forget Jenni Hiirikoski; the legendary blue-liner is in her fifth Games, having earned Best Defence honours in 2014 and 2018, and a place on the media all-star team in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
A Look Back
This marks the eighth meeting between the Canada and Finland at the Olympic Winter Games, and Canada has won every matchup so far.
The last time these teams played in Italy was at the 2006 Games, where Canada earned a 6-0 semifinal win. Cherie Piper scored twice, Gillian Apps had a goal and three assists, Wickenheiser recorded a goal and two helpers and Charline Labonté made 17 saves for the shutout.
All-time record: Canada leads 7-0 Canada goals: 40 Finland goals: 7
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