Bronze medal shows why Finland is underappreciated hockey power

Thanks to its 6-1 win over Slovakia on Saturday, Finland took home the bronze medal in the 2026 men's Olympic hockey tournament. It is by no means an upset. Finland was a better, deeper team than Slovakia (which was a surprise to even be in the medal round) and has routinely won medals at the most recent men's tournaments. 

Especially the tournaments involving NHL players. 

It is that sort of consistency, combined with the absences they overcame in this tournament, that has made Finland arguably the most underappreciated of the international hockey powers. 

Finland is right there with the best hockey countries in the world

Anytime there is an international hockey tournament, Canada is always at the top of the list when it comes to talent and expectations. The United States has made its way on to that tier over the past decade, and Sweden has always been there. 

When Russia is involved, you know they are going to be a contender and medal favorite.

Those four teams generally get the most attention and the most hype. 

While Finland is generally regarded as a strong contender and widely respected for its two-way play, it never seems to be put on the same level as the aforementioned teams.

It should.

With Saturday's bronze-medal win, Finland has now won a medal in five of the six Olympic tournaments that have involved NHL players. 

No country has won more. 

Canada and the United States have won four and three, respectively, when you include the medals they will take home on Sunday. Sweden, Czechia and Russia have won two each. No other country has won a single medal in the NHL-involved Olympics.

If you include the non-NHL Olympic tournaments in 2018 and 2022, where Finland won gold at the 2022 games, it has now medaled in seven of the past nine Olympic tournaments, which is also nearly unmatched among the hockey powers. 

What makes this medal even more impressive is that Finland did it without two of its top players.

Its best player, center Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers), did not play a single game in the tournament as he has missed the entirety of the 2025-26 NHL season to this point. 

Then just before Saturday's bronze-medal game, they learned star forward Mikko Rantanen (Dallas Stars), probably their second-best player, would not play due to an injury he suffered in Friday's semifinal game. 

Still managing to go through the tournament, winning four out of six games and coming home with another medal is a big accomplishment. They may not always produce the biggest names in the league or the biggest stars, but the playing style, attention to detail, structured defensive approach and overall depth of two-way players makes them a constant contender. 

They deserve to be mentioned on the same level as Canada, United States and Sweden. Especially when they keep winning just as much, if not more, than all of them.