Welcome back to… record scratch… Welcome to our first edition of Olympic hockey predictions here at Last Word On Hockey, where we will be covering the men’s ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics each day throughout the preliminary round and beyond.

If Sweden and Finland aren't at the top of Group B at the conclusion of the preliminary round, then the Olympics will have turned upside down.

A pivotal Group A matchup is set for Sunday night in Milan, as Czechia prepares to take on Finland in women’s ice hockey action at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Lehtonen is not the only player on Team Finland with Olympic experience. Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen was playing for HIFK in Liiga, Finland's top hockey league, and Seattle Kraken forward Eeli Tolvanen with Jokerit of the Kontinental Hockey League, when they were Lehtonen's teammates at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

One period earlier, Knight scored her 14th career Olympic goal, tying the American record held by Natalie Darwitz and Katie King. Knight did it in style too, taking a feed from teammate Laila Edwards and beating Finnish goalie Sanni Ahola short-side top corner.

When Kaapo Kakko suffered his second injury of the NHL season in mid-November, the Finn had genuine concern it would interfere with his Olympic dreams.

The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 begins Wednesday when the 12 nations compete in three groups. Group A consists of Canada, Czechia, France and Switzerland. Finland, Italy, Sweden and Slovakia will play in Group B. Group C features Denmark, Germany, Latvia and the United States.

The Finland women's hockey team had its opening game of the Winter Olympics against Canada on Thursday postponed due to a stomach virus depleting the roster. The game was rescheduled for Feb. 12. https://t.co/rp2a3dnYH3 The virus began affecting the Finland squad on Tuesday night.

Finland’s national women’s hockey team canceled practice due to a stomach illness affecting at least four players, a team spokesman confirmed to The Associated Press.

Team USA improves to 2-0 and extends Olympic winning streak against Finland with a 5-0 victory. Megan Keller recorded a goal and two assists the at Milan Cortina Games.

San Jose Sharks forward Pavol Regenda would love his second trip to the Winter Olympic Games to go as well as his first. Regenda was part of a Slovakian team in 2022 that at first had modest expectations going into the Games in Beijing.