Finland has only once failed to win a medal when NHL players have participated in the men’s ice hockey tournament. No other country has achieved this.

The Finnish men’s ice hockey team secured its eighth Olympic medal in history when it defeated Slovakia 6-1 in the bronze medal match in Milano Cortina. This was the fifth time the team has won bronze medals. Finland has won Olympic gold once and silver twice.

– When I think about my own journey – I last played in the Olympics 12 years ago – opportunities like this don’t come around every year. It’s a little disappointing when I feel that we had the chance to get more out of this tournament. This time we won the bronze medal, and we’re proud of that, emphasized captain Mikael Granlund.

Mikko Rantanen, who had scored six points in Finland’s first five Olympic games, was missing from the lineup, but this did not slow down the team. Oliver Kapanen, who replaced Rantanen in the lineup, set up Finland’s 1–0 goal at 7:27 when Sebastian Aho fired the puck into the net from in front of the goal.

Finland doubled its lead when Erik Haula fired the puck past Slovakian goalie Samuel Hlavaj at 28:05. Slovakia broke the deadlock in the final minute of the second period when the puck bounced off the boards and luckily found its way to Tomas Tatar, who was waiting in front of the goal. The goalie Juuse Saros was unable to stop the former NHL forward.

Slovakia had beaten Finland 3-1 in the opening game of the tournament, but the team got their revenge in the bronze medal game – with interest. Before the midway point of the third period, Roope Hintz and Kaapo Kakko increased Finland’s lead to 4-1 within 42 seconds of each other, and Slovakia was unable to mount a comeback. Joel Armia and Haula, who scored his second goal of the night, added to the score as Slovakia tried to close the gap without a goalie.

– We grew up together, knew each other from an early age, went to the same schools, and were roommates here. We even have the same circle of friends from Pori. It’s a pretty special memory for us, Haula said, referring to his teammate and friend Armia.

Fifth medal from the “NHL Olympics”

NHL players participated in the Olympics for the sixth time. Finland won silver in Turin in 2006 and bronze in Nagano in 1998, Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014, and now in Milano-Cortina.

No other country has won five medals in the “NHL Olympics.” No other country has even won four medals, but Canada secured its fourth medal by advancing to Sunday’s Olympic final.

Finland’s other Olympic medals in men’s ice hockey came from Beijing in 2022 (gold), Calgary in 1988 (silver), and Lillehammer in 1994 (bronze). In women’s ice hockey, Finland has won Olympic bronze medals in Nagano in 1998, Vancouver in 2010, PyeongChang in 2018, and Beijing in 2022.

Due to the 12-year absence from the NHL, the Finnish men’s ice hockey team included as many as 20 first-time Olympians, meaning that for almost the entire team, this was also their first Olympic medal. Mikko Lehtonen had previously won gold in Beijing in 2022, and both Mikael Granlund and Olli Määttä had won bronze in Sochi in 2014.

– It feels pretty cool, even though it hasn’t quite sunk in yet. Let’s enjoy this moment. We played a really good game today. We wanted a medal, and we got it, said Eeli Tolvanen, who represented Finland at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang as a young man, but didn’t win a medal at that time.