Finland women’s Olympic hockey game against Canada postponed after stomach virus depletes roster

Finland’s Hockey Team Battles Virus Outbreak at Milan Cortina Olympics

Finland’s women’s hockey team has received an outpouring of support from competitors after a stomach virus outbreak forced the postponement of their Olympic opener against Canada.

The game, originally scheduled for Thursday, has been rescheduled to February 12 after Finnish officials revealed that 13 players were in quarantine or isolation due to a norovirus that began affecting the team Tuesday night. Only eight skaters and two goalies were able to participate in Thursday’s afternoon practice.

“On behalf of Hockey Canada and our team, we want to wish Team Finland a speedy recovery,” said Canadian general manager Gina Kingsbury following a practice held during what would have been game time. “Obviously you worked four years to come to an Olympic Games, we know what it means to represent your country and to be in this incredible tournament. To fall sick and to have a group of athletes under the weather the way they are, we feel for them.”

Finland coach Tero Lehterä explained that playing would have been unfair to his limited healthy players and potentially risked spreading the illness to the Canadian team. “Most of them are getting better but not healthy enough to play,” Lehterä said. “I couldn’t risk my players if they were ill yesterday to play tonight because that would be wrong against the individual.”

Olympic officials called the postponement “a responsible and necessary decision that reflects the spirit of the Olympic Games and the integrity of the competition.” The rescheduled contest will take place during a planned two-day break in the women’s tournament, just before the quarterfinals begin.

Kingsbury, a former Olympic hockey player herself, confirmed she was involved in the decision-making process after receiving updates from Finnish officials on Wednesday. She noted that forfeiture was never discussed as all parties worked toward finding an appropriate solution. Canadian officials also confirmed no players on their roster have shown signs of illness and that the outbreak appears isolated to Finland’s hockey team.

The postponement gives Finland additional recovery time before facing the United States on Saturday, a critical match in the preliminary round schedule.

“Oh, man, your heart just goes for them,” Czech Republic coach Carla MacLeod said after her team’s 5-1 loss to the United States. “Obviously just wish them well and hopefully they can get back to being at their best.”

U.S. coach John Wroblewski added simply: “I hope that they’re OK, let’s just leave it at that. That’s the most important part.”

Despite the challenging circumstances, Lehterä, who is in his first year coaching the women’s team after previously coaching men’s squads, maintained a positive outlook. “It might become a strength. I got to think positive,” he said. “We might be stronger when we come out of this. You never know.” He even joked that the last time he competed with only 10 players was in a recreational beer league game.

Finland captain Jenni Hiirikoski, a five-time Olympian, emphasized how the team is supporting each other through the difficult situation. “It’s not nice, definitely. But we try to focus one day at a time,” the 38-year-old defender said. “We try to help each other, whatever it is, and how it goes. So it’s just stay calm and focused.”

The Finnish team entered the tournament as medal contenders behind global powers Canada and the United States. Finland has won four Olympic bronze medals, including one at the 2022 Beijing Games, and has captured bronze at the past two world championships, defeating the Czech Republic on both occasions.

While the 2022 Beijing Olympics were conducted during the coronavirus pandemic, no games were postponed during that competition, which took place in a closed bubble environment with limited spectators. The closest incident involved a delayed Canada-Russia preliminary round game when Canadian players refused to take the ice for warmups because Russian COVID-19 test results were unavailable. That game eventually proceeded with all participants wearing face masks.

The rescheduled Finland-Canada matchup now becomes a key focus in the tournament schedule, with both teams needing to adjust their preparation and recovery plans accordingly.