Finland Secures Bronze in Thrilling Ice Hockey Match

Finland overcomes semi-final heartbreak to claim men's Olympic ice hockey bronze

Finland overcomes semi-final heartbreak to claim men's Olympic ice hockey bronze with a 6-1 win over Slovakia. Finland's Joel Armia on their bronze medal win: 'We had the courage to play with the puck and play confident'.

“It was probably the biggest challenge of my life to get over that game. It was hard...”

Finland bounced back from a heartbreaking 3-2 semi-final loss to Canada, securing a convincing 6-1 win over Slovakia to claim the men's Olympic ice hockey bronze medal. The Finns, who had just 24 hours to recover from their semi-final defeat, were clearly motivated, with forward Erik Haula stating that “talking to the other guys, talking as a team about what a medal means... that powered us through.”

Despite losing their opening game to Slovakia, Finland regrouped to win their next two games, setting up a thrilling semi-final against Canada. Although they fell short, losing 3-2, the team's resilience and determination ultimately earned them a bronze medal.

A day later, they faced Slovakia, a team that had exceeded expectations before falling to the USA, in a must-win matchup to salvage their Milan campaign.

“It was probably the biggest challenge of my life to get over that game. It was hard,” said Finland forward ⁠Erik Haula, who scored two goals in Saturday's win.

“Talking to the other guys, talking as a team about what a medal means and stuff like that, ‌that powered us through I think.”

Finland's journey at the tournament was a rollercoaster - they started with a loss to Slovakia, which definitely wasn't the start they wanted for their title defense. But they bounced back, beating Sweden in their next game and eventually securing a bronze medal with a 6-1 win over Slovakia. It's a solid conclusion to a tournament that had its ups and downs.

🥉 Finland take #Bronze in the men's ice hockey. 🏒

Their place on the podium is confirmed at #MilanoCortina2026 with an impressive 6-1 win over Slovakia - a seventh Olympic medal in this event!@IIHFHockey | #MedalAlert | #Samsung | #OpenAlwaysWins pic.twitter.com/Mv1PySjfCi

— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) February 21, 2026

Joel Armia credited his team's improved performance to learning from their opening game mistakes. “First game, we kind of learned our lesson,” he said. “We didn't just sit back and we had the courage to play with the puck and play confident.”

Armia, who scored an empty-net goal in Finland's 6-1 win over Slovakia, finished the tournament as Finland's top scorer with eight points (three goals, five assists).