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.

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THROWING STONES

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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.

SETTING UP THE SEMIS

Rachel Homan’s Canadian rink finishes off its women’s curling round-robin with a game against South Korea. The last day of preliminary-round competition will determine Friday’s semifinalists. Canada’s last medal in women’s curling was a gold at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.

BIG AERIAL

Canadians Émile Nadeau, Lewis Irving, Miha Fontaine and Victor Primeau will be competing in the men’s freestyle ski aerial qualifiers Thursday morning. The final is set for later in the day. The qualifying round was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but Olympics organizers postponed it after an alpine snow dump hampered visibility, particularly for air ambulances.

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.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2026.