Finland searching for ‘defense-first group’ at Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026

HELSINKI — The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 are nonetheless six months away, however Team Finland already has the occasion in sight.

“Let’s see what number of (Dallas) Stars gamers will likely be named to their respective groups,” Stars ahead Mikko Rantanen stated on Monday. “Once we know the rosters, I’m pretty sure there will be a lot of Olympic talk in our room.”

Rantanen, together with Stars defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell, was named to Finland’s preliminary roster in June. Joining them had been Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers, Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators and Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes.

“Great players all six of them,” Finland coach Antti Pennanen stated. “Excellent goalie, top NHL defensemen and forwards who are among the best in the world.”

Despite these preliminary six, Pennanen is aware of it received’t be straightforward to fill the remaining spots on the roster.

As such, he laid out what a few of the contributing components is likely to be at Finland’s Olympic orientation camp on Monday. The Finnish Ice Hockey Association and the Finnish Olympic Committee gathered roughly 50 of the highest Finnish gamers from the NHL and completely different leagues throughout Europe collectively in Helsinki with a view to hear extra about Milano Cortina, the place many will likely be first-timers.

NHL gamers haven’t participated within the Olympics since 2014.

“The choice is always hard and difficult,” Pennanen stated. “There are so many good gamers to select from. Today we talked in regards to the argumentation for the alternatives, so the gamers know.”

The gamers additionally know what the expectation will likely be: one other gold medal.

“We are proud of [Finland’s] first Olympic gold ever (at the 2022 Beijing Olympics) and the team that won it,” Pennanen said. “The medal motivates us.”

Still, what is going to the roster appear like come February?

“It will likely be an excellent and aggressive group, a defense-first group,” Finland’s general manager Jere Lehtinen said. “We know the gamers we’ve. Remember the NHL Conference Finals final spring? There had been altogether 12 Finns enjoying, a lot of them in massive roles.”

Finland will take part within the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in Group B together with Slovakia, Sweden and the host Italy, which will likely be coached by Jukka Jalonen, who guided Finland to the gold medal in 2022.

Finland will open the match towards Slovakia at Santagiulia Arena on Feb. 11.

“It’s too early to say a lot in regards to the different groups in our group, however we all know Italy will compete onerous and we play towards Jukka. We know the type of group Sweden is, and Slovakia has change into a great hockey nation with some nice gamers within the NHL. It’s an fascinating group,” Lehtinen stated.