The women’s hockey event at the 2026 Winter Olympics got hit with some tough news before the puck was even dropped.
The preliminary round game between Finland and Canada scheduled for Thursday, February 5, was postponed after 13 players were placed in quarantine or isolation after a norovirus wreaked havoc on the team.
Finland finished its practice on Thursday with just eight skaters and two goalies.
The game was postponed until February 12. Finland is scheduled to play the United States on Saturday, February 7, which the team hopes will still happen.
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“Most of them are getting better but not healthy enough to play,” Team Finland coach Tero Lehterä said after practice on Thursday. “And there’s the chance that if we would play it could influence Team Canada and their health as well.”
He added, “But I couldn’t risk my players if they were ill yesterday to play tonight because that would be wrong against the individual.”
Lehterä said players started feeling ill with stomach issues on Tuesday, February 3, but offered no indication about a root cause.
“Some things might happen, you never know what happens, and you only worry about the things that we can affect,” Lehterä offered. “And this is not something we can do anything about. We have no say whether we play or not. It’s not up to us. When we’re told to show up, we show up. Whether it’s five, six, seven, 15 or 20 [players].”
In her fifth appearance at the Winter Olympics, Team Finland captain Jenni Hiirikoski admitted the adversity has been “not nice.”
“But we try to focus one day at a time,” Hiirikoski, 38, said on Thursday. “The big thing has been how we tolerate different things. I think we try to help each other, whatever it is, and how it goes. So it’s just stay calm and focused.”
Olympic officials issued a statement on Thursday about their decision to postpone the game.
“While all stakeholders recognize the disappointment of not playing the game as originally scheduled, this was a responsible and necessary decision that reflects the spirit of the Olympic Games and the integrity of the competition,” the statement read. “All stakeholders thank teams, partners and fans for their cooperation and understanding, and look forward to the rescheduled game being played under safe and appropriate conditions.”
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The men’s and women’s hockey events in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, have experienced plenty of drama and controversy in the lead-up to the 2026 Games.
Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, one of two sites that will host hockey games, was still an active worksite on Wednesday, February 4, just hours before action was scheduled to begin.
Construction workers could be seen “in hard hats and orange vests” with “piles of broken-down Corona Zero boxes” all around the concession stands, according to the Associated Press.
“For the whole team that’s been working on it — that’s built the venue — it’s amazing what everyone’s accomplished,” Veronika Muehlhofer, the venue manager at Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, told the AP on Wednesday. “We still have cleaning and things to perfect for the first game [on Thursday], but these are my ninth Games, so you always come down to lots to do in the last few days. And then any time we drop the first puck, it’s like a big relief.”
