One of the most anticipated sports at every Winter Olympics is ice hockey. Women’s hockey, in particular, comes into the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics with surging momentum thanks to the popularity of the Professional Women’s Hockey League following its launch in 2023.
The excitement took a hit on Thursday. The opening game for defending gold medalist Canada against defending bronze medalist Finland was postponed due to illness among several Finnish players, according to CBC’s Claire Hanna. The decision was announced by the Games Organizing Committee less than 12 hours before the event’s scheduled start time of 3:45 p.m. ET.
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“The International Olympic Committee, the Milano Cortina 2026 Organizing Committee, the International Ice Hockey Federation, Team Finland and Team Canada confirm that the game between Team Finland and Team Canada in the women’s Olympic ice hockey competition scheduled to take place today has been postponed,” the committee said in a statement.
“The decision was taken following consultations with medical professionals after cases of norovirus were identified within Team Finland. It was made collectively and in accordance with established health and safety principles, with the health and wellbeing of players, team staff, officials and all tournament participants as the highest priority.”
Hanna reported that 13 players were either sick or in quarantine the night before the game, leaving Finland without enough available players for the opening game.
The Finnish players currently sick or quarantining due to exposure:
G: Sanni Ahola
D: Karjaleinen, Suoranta, Savolainen
F: Vanhanen, Nylund, Schalin, Vainikka, Vesa, Karvinen, Tulus, Nuutinen, Tapani, Liikala
Team Finland is suppose to play Canada tonight. @CBCOlympics… pic.twitter.com/YGQZI49WHB— Claire Hanna (@clahanna) February 5, 2026
The Canada-Finland game has been rescheduled for Thursday, Feb. 12 at 8:40 a.m. It was the best possible outcome for Finland to avoid a forfeit and allow time for players to recover before playing the United States, a gold medal contender, on Saturday at 10:40 a.m.
Meanwhile, Canada’s first game will now be against Switzerland on Saturday at 3:10 p.m at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.
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