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Tomorrow, Canada will face Finland in the men's hockey tournament at the Olympic Games.
The goal?
To win… and earn a ticket to the grand final, which will be held on Sunday morning. It promises to be exciting: the Canadians have everything they need to beat the Finns, but it won't be easy because the Finns have a strong team. It will help if Sidney Crosby can play…
If Canada makes it to the final, it would be so nice to see the Americans advance as well. They'll face Juraj Slafkovsky's Slovakia, and it should be a pretty interesting game. That said… Even though Canada has a strong team, it's not the one most likely to win gold according to the odds. According to Dom Luszczyszyn's calculations (The Athletic), the Americans are the favorites (at 48%) at the time of writing… and that leaves me a little perplexed.
According to Luszczyszyn, it's Canada's game against Finland that complicates things a bit for the Maple Leaf. And that explains why Canada's odds are at 41% according to Luszczyszyn:
Canada's odds take a hit with the matchup with the Finns. https://t.co/eIW8dJREpM
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) February 18, 2026
The United States has a great team.
They have a wealth of talent in their squad and it's true that they have the players to go all the way.
But we know what the problem is with this team: there seems to be a glaring lack of leadership… and, above all, experience. Canada is counting on players who have already won gold and who were already on the team during the 4 Nations Challenge.
That can make a difference.
We know, however, that the Americans put on quite a performance in the 4 Nations final. They gave themselves chances to win, and if it weren't for Jordan Binnington's brilliance in overtime, they probably would have won the tournament.
Will they be motivated by that loss to defeat Canada this time around? Will our southern neighbors be able to pull off a surprise, given that Canada has been at the top of the international scene for so many years?
To be continued.
But again, it's not a done deal… because both clubs will have to win their semifinal games to meet in the final.
In a nutshell
– Yes!
Marie-Philip Poulin
will be playing in her 5th Olympic Gold Medal
game for Team Canada
today pic.twitter.com/AviqPGaBAI
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) February 19, 2026
— Go!
The Canada women's team is up against it today, make no mistake. But hopefully the coach gives a similar speech that Jon Cooper gave when Crosby went down last game: don't let this be how Poulin's last Olympics game goes down.
GO CANADA GO
— HFTV (@HFTVSports) February 19, 2026
— A true warrior!
After battling a norovirus, Lundell helped Finland to victoryhttps://t.co/3w7VNjAJg7
— RDS (@RDSca) February 19, 2026
