MILAN – Canada’s underdog women’s hockey team goes for gold against the U.S., and the men’s curling crew plays its last round-robin game ahead of the semifinals — here are five things to watch Thursday at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
UNDERDOGS ON ICE
Canada will vie for women’s hockey gold for the eighth Games in a row on Thursday. The team will face off against its longtime U.S. rival, which has played against Canada in every Olympic final save one going back to 1998. The Americans have dominated the Games this year, but on Monday Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin showed her chops yet again by netting both goals in a 2-1 semifinal victory over Switzerland, topping Hayley Wickenheiser for the most Olympic goals by a Canadian with 20.
THROWING STONES
After a round-robin campaign peppered with expletives and controversy, the men’s curling squad is heading to the semifinals. Already guaranteed a spot with its 7-1 record, the team will face off against Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell in its final round-robin game Thursday morning before entering the playoff round later in the day. Skip Brad Jacobs, whose team was the subject of cheating allegations from a now-eliminated Sweden, hopes to reclaim the gold medal 12 years after winning the Olympic title at the Sochi Games.
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SETTING UP THE SEMIS
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Rachel Homan’s Canadian rink finishes off its women’s curling round-robin with a crucial game against South Korea after a key 8-7 win over Italy Wednesday. Canada enters the final game with a 5-3 record, tied for third place with South Korea and the United States. Sweden and Switzerland have already qualified for the semifinals, with only two other teams eligible to join them in the playoffs starting Friday. The last day of preliminary-round competition will determine which teams will fill the final two spots. Canada’s last medal in women’s curling was gold at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.
LONG TRACK, LONG SHOT?
Canada will feature two Olympic newcomers for the men’s 1,500-metre long-track speedskating showdown. Daniel Hall of Salmon Arm, B.C., and David La Rue of Saint-Lambert, Que., are poised to push off in a field with more prominent skaters, including American Jordan Stolz and reigning Dutch champion Kjeld Nuis. Hall is a second-generation Olympian, with his father Michael competing for Canada in the sport during the Lillehammer 1994 Games.
A STAR IS BORN?
All eyes will be on Alysa Liu as she tries to end a 24-year U.S. drought in women’s figure skating. No American has won Olympic gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002. Liu, the youngest U.S. champion at 13 in 2019, briefly retired in 2022 before returning in 2024. She enters the free skate in third place behind Japan’s Ami Nakai and Kaori Sakamoto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2026.
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