FOREVER AND ALWAYS RIVALS, FINLAND AND SWEDEN
If there is one constant at Olympic hockey tournaments, it is that the past is never far behind and the history of grand successes or heartbreaking disappointments can often be used as fuel.
Canada and the United States, of course, have their own special history as neighbours and long-time hockey rivals.
But for sheer passion and longevity, it’s hard to beat the competitive history that exists on the ice between Nordic neighbours Finland and Sweden.
“I think that we have a lot of similarities, but obviously we're very different people,” said veteran Swedish defenceman, Erik Karlsson. “And you know over the years, we've crossed paths with a lot of great players and coaches and philosophies. And we try and steal what we can from each other and adapt and move on. It's something that goes way beyond hockey as well, I think.”
Twenty years ago, less than a two-hour car ride from Milan and the current Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, the Finns and Swedes played in the greatest of all games between the two rivals in the gold medal game of the 2006 tournament in Turin.
Swedish captain Gabriel Landeskog, 13 at the time, remembers jumping up and down on the family couch as the Swedes edged Finland 3-2.
“That is absolutely one of the reasons you want to be here. Create new memories for the next generation and inspire the next round of kids that are coming up. The boys and girls all over Sweden, no doubt,” Landeskog said.
So, to be back in Italy with a chance to repeat that kind of history?
“It's very surreal,” said Swedish defenceman Gustav Forsling, who was nine at the time.
“I remember that game very well. I think everyone does, obviously, but for me, I think I was at the perfect age at that time to just be the biggest fan ever,” Forsling said.
Same event. Different memory.
“It was a heartbreaker, I remember. I was nine, ten years old then. I was at home with my family watching it, probably wearing a Finnish jersey and being emotional after we lost,” recalled Finnish star Mikko Rantanen.
Sweden’s head coach, Sam Hallam, was just starting his coaching career in Sweden when the Swedes won gold in Turin. Even for his current players who were just children at the time, the gold medal win is a kind of talisman for this version of the team at this Italian venue.
“They've seen all the clips. They've seen the goals. They've seen the last minute. It's a huge game,” Hallam said.
“It’s one of those games. One of the biggest games in Swedish hockey history. So, of course, that's a thing,” he added. “And I'm sure both teams are going to look back and understand the importance and the possibility to play a game in Italy against each other again.”
It is one thing to remember history, it is another to believe that history is waiting to be made in the preliminary round.
Swedish defenceman Erik Karlsson believes that success or failure at international events for both countries, more often than not, involves the outcome of their specific clashes.
It may be so here in Milan where the Finns were shocked 4-1 by Slovakia in their tournament opener while the Swedes looked sluggish at times in beating host Italy 5-2.
The two countries clashed in their second respective games of the tournament, with Finland edging Sweden with a final score of 4-1 – the first time in 28 years at the Olympics that Finland came out on top of the matchup.
“I think somehow it always seems that for either country to do well, we have to go through each other in any big tournament,” said Karlsson now playing in his second Olympic tournament having earned a silver medal at Sochi 2014 after Sweden bested Finland 2-1 in the semifinal.
“That's kind of how it's been throughout the years, throughout the decades. At some point, you're going to have to beat each other. And whoever wins that game usually has lots of success,” Karlsson added.
CANADA AND THE SWISS HAVE SOME HISTORY, WITH MORE ON THE WAY
Sometimes the study of Olympic history is in the measuring how much has changed over time or in the case of Team Switzerland, how far a hockey nation has come.
At that same Olympic tournament in 2006, the Swiss enjoyed one of their greatest hockey triumphs in their hockey history, knocking off Canada 2-0 in the preliminary round. In spite of being out-shot 24-1 in the third period and giving up 49 shots overall, the Swiss earned their first-ever win over Canada in international play.
It was a harbinger of things to come for Canada as they lost to Russia in the quarterfinals of that tournament.
It’s the only Olympic tournament they haven’t won going back to Salt Lake City in 2002.
Crazy coincidence? Current Swiss forward Nino Niederreiter shares the same birthday as Switzerland’s scoring hero that day in 2006, Paul DiPietro, who scored both Swiss goals.
“Which is kind of funny, but I remember it just as it was yesterday,” Niederreiter said.
Fast forward to 2026 and the two teams will face each other in the preliminary round once again. Both teams opened the Milan tournament with wins, Canada besting Czechia 5-0 while Switzerland beat France 4-0.
While Canada, led by three-time Olympian (and two-time gold medalist) Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid et al continue to be the gold standard at Olympic best-on-best tournaments by virtue of gold medal wins in 2002, 2010 and 2014. The Swiss come into the Milan tournament with a much different swagger about them since that upset in Turin.
They are coming off back-to-back silver medals at the world championships and have a strong core of NHL players in Milan including captain Roman Josi who is also captain of the Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier and Kevin Fiala of the Los Angeles Kings.
“I think we're a very tight group, we love each other like a family and we take care of each other like a family outside of the ice and on the ice,” said Fiala who was the tournament MVP at the world championship in 2024.
“We defend well, we block shots, when there's a mistake, we go help each other out and all this stuff, we track well, we do all that. We have a good [group], we have dirty workers, we have skilled guys, we have a good, yeah, good [group],” Fiala added.
The key, Fiala said, who is one of those players whose game just seems to inflate when he pulls on the Swiss national team jersey, is to make sure you try and keep it all in perspective as the tournament unfolds.
“Let’s see what is possible, I think we have to enjoy a little bit. To be honest, I was a little bit almost too pumped up today. Too wound up. I took a look around after the game and saw all the fans happy and I'm like, ‘oh my God, it's so fun, can't forget that, it's fun,’” said Fiala after a 4-0 shutout of Team France.
AT THE HEART OF THE MATTER
It’s the Olympics, so that means looking for those unexpected moments that help define the stage and what it means to be on it. Like watching Bo Horvat streak through the middle of the ice and score the third goal for Canada in their 5-0 win over Czechia. Horvat is a center on a team awash in superstar centers. Horvat wasn’t part of last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off team and may have been a bit of a surprise to be named to Canada’s roster here in Milan. And yet there he was, in his first-ever Olympic game putting on a show for his family and helping build a lead that guaranteed a Canadian win.
“It’s pretty special. To get the win behind it too was pretty incredible. My family and everybody was kind of sitting right across the way from the bench. I spotted them after the goal when I sat down. There were a lot of hugs and smiles going on so it was fun to see. I had my parents, in-laws, two kids and my wife. It was pretty funny to watch them across the way. Everybody was going pretty crazy.”
Who was cheering loudest? Hard to tell.
“I’m guessing it was my dad but hopefully somebody’s got a cameo or something.”
(Feature photo courtesy of Getty Images)