MILAN – From the pursuit of gold to the reveal of an upcoming opponent in another march for gold, here are five things to know from Feb. 17 at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics:
BACK-TO-BACK
The Canadian speedskating trio of Valérie Maltais, Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann repeated as Olympic champions in the women’s team pursuit in what they said was their last race together as a pursuit team, and four years after claiming gold in Beijing. They defeated the Netherlands by just under a second after trailing the Dutch early in the race.
OPPONENT LOCKED IN
Canada’s quarterfinal opponent in men’s hockey is set: Czechia. The Canadians had to wait as they had locked in the top seed after going 3-0 in group play and outscoring their opponents 20-3, including a 5-0 win over their soon-to-be opponents. Czechia defeated Denmark 3-2 in a qualification playoff to advance.
NO CONCERNS
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Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett were nowhere to be found at Canada’s practice ahead of the men’s hockey quarterfinals at the Milan Cortina Olympics. Head coach Jon Cooper said both forwards were held off the ice for “maintenance” and there’s “no panic” with Wednesday’s matchup against Czechia approaching. However, defenceman Josh Morrissey was a full participant in practice after leaving Canada’s opener against Czechia with an undisclosed injury and sitting out the past two games. Cooper said Morrissey “looked great,” but didn’t know if he would be available against Czechia.
ROLLING STONES
Brad Jacobs’ Calgary-based rink booked itself a playoff spot with a 9-5 win over Great Britain in men’s curling. The win also improved Canada to 6-1, only behind Switzerland at 7-0. On the women’s side, Rachel Homan’s Ottawa-based rink continued its momentum with an 8-6 win over Sweden, which was undefeated going into the game. Homan’s three-game losing skid has been put in the rearview mirror, with the top-ranked squad now sitting at 4-3 and tied for fourth place in the standings.
DELAY
Snow and poor visibility forced Milan Cortina Olympic organizers to postpone the women’s snowboard slopestyle final and both the women’s and men’s freestyle aerials qualification. The slopestyle final was called off first, followed by the aerials events. Both the slopestyle and aerials events have been pushed to Wednesday. It marked the second day in a row that poor weather disrupted the Livigno Olympic schedule after the women’s freeski big air final was delayed on Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
