Finland vs Canada Preview & Prediction | 2026 Winter Olympics | Women’s Ice Hockey | Preliminary Round

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Gold medal winners in 2022, Canada begin the defence of their title against Finland in the final match of Thursday.

Kick-off date/time:

How to watch on TV: UK – TNT Sports (some events will also be televised on the BBC / TNT Sports / Not Televised / USA – NBC, USA Network, CNBC & NBCSN

How to watch online: UK – discovery+ (some events can be streamed live on the BBC’s digital platforms / USA – Peacock & nbcolympics.com

Finland vs Canada prediction

Five-time gold medallists Canada are looking to make it back-to-back Winter Olympic triumphs and with the roster they’ve assembled, there’s every reason to think that they’ll it. Led by the legendary Marie-Philip Poulin, ‘Captain Clutch’ is backed up by a squad made up exclusively of full-time professionals from the PWHL, many of whom were in the 2022 team who claimed gold ahead of USA.

Whether it be Sarah Fillier, Laura Stacey or Beijing 2022 MVP Brianne Jenner, goals shouldn’t be hard to come by for this Canadian side. Defensively, they look extremely strong as well with Renata Fast, Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques all set to play key roles. It’s worth noting that Canada thrashed Finland 11-1 at this stage back in 2022.

Finland bounced back to make the semi-finals in that tournament, but that isn’t a factor when it comes to a fixture such as this. The gulf in standard between these two teams should be stark and any outcome other than a resounding win for Canada would be seen as a big surprise.

Finland vs Canada tip: Canada to win with -4.5 handicap