A record-tying return for Captain Clutch, a Finnish flurry, and a chaotic Group B took centre stage in Saturday’s hockey action at the Olympics.
Sweden 5, Slovakia 3 (Group B)
Juraj Slafkovský had a goal and an assist in what he called one of the greatest losses of his career as a late goal by Dalibor Dvorsky have Slovakia the edge in a three-way tie-breaker to win Group B.
Elias Pettersson had two goals for Sweden, who had opened up a 5-2 lead, but Dvorsky’s power play goal wit...
24 days ago
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Fresh off of the AHL All-Star Game and riding a five-game winning streak, the Laval Rocket returned back to the ice with a six-point lead atop the AHL’s North Division. A win over their opponents, the Hershey Bears, would set Laval up with a potential eight-point gap heading in to the weekend. However, the Bears remained one of the AHL’s premier clubs and were not a team to be taken lightly.
The Rocket received a major boost to their lineup as Tobie Bisson returned from injury and slotted...
25 days ago
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2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics
Preliminary Round Game 11: Sweden vs. Slovakia
How to watch
Start time: 6:10 AM EDT / 12:10 PM CET In Canada: Sportsnet (English) RDS (French) Streaming: CBC Gem, RDS, Sportsnet+
Sweden’s offence went dry in its rivalry game versus Finland, dropping to 1-1 in the group stage. They face a tough challenge today to finish with a second win as they face an undefeated Team Slovakia that has looked good through both of its games so far. The Slo...
25 days ago
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Montreal Canadiens news and notes
Michael Hage had three assists and the shootout-winner last night versus Gavin McKenna’s Penn State. [ RDS ]
Alexander Zharovsky now holds the KHL record for most points by an 18-year-old. [ RDS ]
Lane Hutson, Cole Caufield, and Brendan Gallagher are the current-team representatives in the quarter-century top 25. [ Montreal Gazette ]
Samuel Montembeault and his wife Daryanne have announced that they are expecting a baby. [ TVA Sports ]
...
25 days ago
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Sweden had mixed results, but won the elimination game, while the opposite ran true for Czechia on Friday at the Olympics.
Finland 4, Sweden 1 (Group B)
Finland bounced back from a loss against Slovakia in a big way, throwing Group B into a bit of chaos. The Finns took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, and that would be all they needed. Rasmus Dahlin got one back early in the second, but that was as close as they came.
Joel Armia answered back for FInland, and they got an ...
25 days ago
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Less then a minute into the game between Canada and Switzerland, Shea Theodore lobbed a shot at the net that was missed by Akira Schmid. The puck hit the bottom of the crossbar, but dropped straight down and back out into the slot. Just a few seconds later, Switzerland transitioned up the ice in a three-on-one, requiring a snow-angel save from Logan Thompson. The tone was set for a high-event game between the only two teams yet to allow a goal in the tournament.
On a power play five minut...
25 days ago
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With Olympic hockey finally underway, and the NHL participating for the first time since 2014, we have some very exciting games on the schedule while the Habs are off. It started with Canada taking on Czechia yesterday, where the favourites steamrolled their way to a convincing 5-0 win. Jon Cooper received contributions from up and down his lineup, they didn’t allow many high-quality scoring chances, and even when the Czechs found a way to make Jordan Binnington work, he turned in one of his b...
26 days ago
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2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics
Preliminary Round Game 7: Finland vs. Sweden
How to watch
Start time: 6:10 AM EDT / 12:10 PM CET In Canada: TSN (English) RDS (French) Streaming: CBC Gem, RDS, TSN+
The Finns had a lot of shots in their opening game, but in a familiar story for the nation it had trouble turning those into goals. They outshot Slovakia 40-25, but lost 4-1. Sweden, on the other hand, found plenty of offence on 60 shots versus Italy, originally getting a scar...
26 days ago
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Montreal Canadiens news and notes
Canadiens’ Top 25 this century: Ranking the Habs players who stood out, a five-part feature series. Part three covers 11-15. [ Montreal Gazette ]
Which Habs could suit up at the 2030 Winter Olympics? [ The Hockey Writers ]
Juraj Slafkovský has already established himself as an Olympic superstar. [ Daily Faceoff ]
Ivan Demidov sits in the shadow of Matthew Schaefer when it comes to the Calder Trophy. [ RDS ]
The Laval Rocket are looki...
26 days ago
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A busy day with five games after Canada and Finland played their postponed game, and four more men’s teams got underway, including Canada and the United States.
Switzerland 4, France 0 (Group A)
Switzerland scored twice in the first 3:06 with goals from Damien Riat and Janis Moser. France recovered after that, but were unable to beat Swiss goaltender Leonardo Genoni. Genoni made 27 saves and became the oldest goaltender in the NHL-at-the-Olympics era to record a shutout.
Timo Me...
26 days ago
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In an indication of the heightened level of these games at the Olympics, Connor McDavid threw an early hit in the corner of the offensive zone. Moments later, Czechia dragged McDavid down, and that sent what promises to be a productive power play onto the ice. It did have a few chances in its first two minutes of action in the tournament, but the Czechs did a good job defending to keep Canada off the board.
Canada was the first team to put the puck in the net as Nathan MacKinnon flew into...
27 days ago
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There were not nearly the amount of eyes on women’s hockey on February 24, 2019, but it was where my mind went to as soon as I saw Marie-Philip Poulin labouring on the bench at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
On that date, the final regular-season game of the CWHL season, Poulin went down at centre ice. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened, whether she simply got her foot stuck in a rut on the ice or if it was an awkward collision that ended badly. There weren’t cameras, and there weren’t ...
27 days ago
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2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics
Preliminary Round Game 3: Switzerland vs. France
How to watch
Start time: 6:10 AM EDT / 12:10 PM CET In Canada: Sportsnet (English) ICI Télé (French) Streaming: CBC Gem, Sportsnet+
It has been almost 80 years since Switzerland won a medal in the men’s Olympic hockey tournament, last claiming bronze in 1948. But the country did claim silver in the most recent World Championship, losing 1-0 in overtime to Team USA on May 25, 2025.
This...
27 days ago
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Montreal Canadiens news and notes
Juraj Slafkovský notched two goals as Slovakia upset Finland 4-1 in the Olympic men’s hockey opener on Wednesday. [ CBC ]
Olympic dreams are coming true for Slafkovský, Nick Suzuki, Oliver Kapanen, and Alexandre Texier. [ NHL ]
Looking at the top 25 Canadiens players since 2000, numbers 16-20. [ Montreal Gazette ]
Montreal mayor talks about what the Canadiens mean to Montreal, their outreach to the community and rivalry with the Nordiques...
27 days ago
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The men’s tournament got underway on Wednesday, with two games that were very different than many expected heading into the day.
Slovakia 4, Finland 1 (Group B)
Juraj Slafkovský didn’t take long to showcase why he is Slovakia’s hero. He had two elite goals and an assist as the Slovaks get the tournament’s first upset in the very first game.
Finland had no answers for the Slovak’s top line when they were on the ice, and Samuel Hlavaj did the rest went they weren’t. Hlavaj made 39...
27 days ago
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2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics
Preliminary Round Game 1: Slovakia vs. Finland
How to watch
Start time: 10:40 AM EDT / 4:40 PM CET In Canada: CBC, TSN (English) ICI Télé (French) Streaming: CBC Gem, TSN
Two of the medallists from the 2022 Olympics start off the 2026 event. The 2022 champion, Finland, will begin its gold-medal defence versus reigning tournament MVP Juraj Slafkovský and Team Slovakia. Finland has a deeper pool of talent to draw upon than today’s opponent,...
28 days ago
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Will Shoukri and Patrik Bexell recorded a 35-minute episode that briefly touched upon the Olympics (it’s hard not to, with the women’s tournament underway and the Marie-Philip Poulin injury news hanging over Team Canada) but the point of the show wasn’t the Games, it was Laval. With the AHL All-Star break here, I wanted to use the moment to zoom out to see what this event actually means, how often it turns into NHL opportunity, and why this year’s All-Star group is more prospect-heavy than peo...
28 days ago
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Montreal Canadiens news and notes
Juraj Slafkovský is hoping for another magical run at the Olympics with Team Slovakia. [ NHL.com ]
The hopes and pressures of a nation rest on Slafkovský’s shoulders. [ Radio-Canada ]
Canadiens’ Top 25 this century: Ranking the Habs players who stood out, a five-part feature series. Starting with 21-25. [ Montreal Gazette ]
Yes, Lane Hutson is in the Norris Trophy conversation. [ RDS ]
Tomas Plekanec is enjoying a new career path as ...
28 days ago
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Four more games took place on Tuesday, and we got some clarity on the standings, especially in Group B which finished play. We know that the United States will face Italy, but other than that, we do not know much, except that Switzerland will finish in the bottom of Group A.
Sweden 4, Japan 0 (Group B)
Sweden scored just 5:25 into the game, and rolled the rest of the way. Japan started their backup goaltender Riko Kawagushu, who was making her first start of the tournament, and she a...
28 days ago
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Four games took place on Monday, and while Canada won their game, it wasn’t all good news. Italy qualifies for the next round, and an expected collision course for Canada and the USA for top spot in Group A.
Update: Hockey Canada confirmed that Marie-Philip Poulin is out for Tuesday’s game against the United States and remains day-to-day.
Italy 3, Japan 2 (Group B)
Toronto Sceptres forward Kristin Della Rovere scored 37 seconds into the third period to put Italy up 3-1, and that...
29 days ago
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Four games took place on Monday, and while Canada won their game, it wasn’t all good news. Italy qualifies for the next round, and an expected collision course for Canada and the USA for top spot in Group A.
Italy 3, Japan 2 (Group B)
Toronto Sceptres forward Kristin Della Rovere scored 37 seconds into the third period to put Italy up 3-1, and that ended up holding up as the winning goal in a 3-2 win for Italy against Japan in Group B action.
The win moves Italy into the quarter...
29 days ago
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Montreal Canadiens News and Notes
Juraj Slafkovsky will line up next to former Hab Tomas Tatar for Slovakia. [ TVA Sports ]
Marie-Philip Poulin did not return to the ice against Czechia after taking a hard hit. [ Montreal Gazette ]
The Habs have made enormous steps since last year. [ La Presse ]
Is Montreal built for playoff success? [ Montreal Gazette | TVA Sports ]
Around the League and Elsewhere
Drew Doughty’s path from Olympic newbie to grizzled veteran....
29 days ago
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For the first time since 2014, NHL players will be participating in the Winter Olympics. The last time members of hockey’s top league entered the tournament, the gold medal was claimed by Canada as the nation won every game, backed by the steady presence of Carey Price to allow just three goals in the tournament. This time around, Canada is once again a favourite, but without such stellar goaltending to rely on other teams could take that crown and claim to be the new leader in best-on-best in...
29 days ago
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It was another light day of action on Sunday, as the schedule thinned out before two straight days with four games per day before the start of the men’s tournament.
Sweden 4, France 0 (Group B)
Sweden both all-but-clinched top spot in Group B and officially eliminated France with a 4-0 win on Sunday. The scoreline might be a bit surprising in that it wasn’t overwhelming, but this result was as much as a mismatch as Canada’s 4-0 win over Switzerland.
The Swedes got three first pe...
30 days ago
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Montreal Canadiens news and notes
Nick Suzuki appears set to start the Olympics on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Brad Marchand. [ TSN ]
Jon Cooper hopes Suzuki can be the setup man for MacKinnon that he has been for Cole Caufield. [ RDS ]
Suzuki was too humble to compare himself to Sidney Crosby for an assignment as child, and that’s why the comparison is apt. [ Sportsnet ]
It was important for the Laval Rocket players to reassert their home dominance last week and get...
30 days ago
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