Canada's Women's Hockey Team Makes History, Advances to Olympics Semifinals
Canada's women's hockey team has made history, advancing to the Olympics semifinals with a strong performance led by captain Marie-Philip Poulin.
The Canadian team, known for their skill and determination, faced a slow start against Germany in the quarterfinal round. However, they pushed through and secured a 5-1 victory at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.
In the upcoming semifinal, Canada will face Switzerland, while the United States will compete against Sweden. The gold-medal game is scheduled for Thursday.
Poulin, who had been out of action for two games due to a knee injury, made a remarkable comeback. She scored her 18th career Olympic goal, tying the record held by her former teammate, Hayley Wickenheiser.
"I never think about that," Poulin said. "You want to win every Olympics. I was lucky enough in my career to play with some pretty amazing players, so I'm really grateful for them."
Poulin's goal in the third period was a game-changer. She redirected a Sarah Fillier pass into the German goal, securing Canada's fifth win.
"I remember watching her in the 2010 Olympics and all the way up," said Canadian defender Claire Thompson. "It's truly special to share the ice with her. She's a huge role model for me, and still is to this day, the way she carries herself both on and off the ice."
Poulin's absence was felt during the 5-0 loss to the United States and the 5-0 win over Finland. She was checked hard into the boards by Kristyna Kaltounkova in the first period of the 5-1 win over Czechia, which led to her knee injury.
"I missed her a lot," Thompson said. "She's a huge presence both on the ice and in the locker room. We're just really happy that she was able to be back with us tonight."
Poulin's knee was tested early on Saturday as she chased down Laura Kluge on a short-handed breakaway, after the German stripped Renata Fast of the puck. Despite the initial concern, Poulin was relieved with how she felt and looked forward to improving day by day.
Thompson, Fillier, Brianne Jenner, and Blayre Turnbull also scored for Canada in their first Olympic game against Germany. Canada's goalie, Emerance Maschmeyer, stopped 10 shots for her second win of the tournament.
The German women's first-ever goal against Canada was a short-handed one, scored by Franziska Feldmeier on a breakaway in the third period. The Germans had been outscored 78-0 in nine world championship meetings.
Goaltender Sandra Abstreiter, who made 38 saves in the loss, is a teammate of Poulin and four other Canadian players on the Montreal Victoire. Canada finished second in Group A with a 3-0-0-1 record behind the unbeaten United States, while Germany ranked second in Group B behind undefeated Sweden.
The United States and Sweden advanced to the semifinals with quarterfinal victories over Italy and Czechia, respectively. Canada led 2-0 and 3-0, outshot the Germans 10-3 and 27-6 at period breaks. However, Canadian turnovers gave the Germans some odd-man rushes.
"Puck management. Just because you have time to make a play doesn't mean you've always got to use it," said Canadian head coach Troy Ryan. "You've got to get into the habit of making quick plays and quick decisions so you're not playing to your opponent a little bit. We'll bring a puck to a backhand when we should be loading it up on the forehand, so we make more direct plays."
Two of Canada's goals came on Abstreiter's misplays, including Thompson's wobbling shot from the blue line squeezing between her pads. Fillier's sharp-angled shot along the goal-line deflected off the goalie's stick and in for a power-play goal.
The Germans are coached by Jeff MacLeod of Halifax. German forward Nina Jobst-Smith of Surrey, B.C., plays for the Vancouver Goldeneyes. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 14, 2026.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version stated that Czechia beat Sweden to advance to the semifinals. In fact, Sweden beat Czechia.
