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Officiating decision for Canada-Finland semifinal raises eyebrows


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Tom Banks
February 20, 2026  (1:56 PM)
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Feb 20, 2026; Milan, Italy; Nathan MacKinnon (29) of Canada celebrates after scoring a goal during the third period against Finland in a men's ice hockey semifinal during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images
Photo credit: James Lang-Imagn Images

Canada took it down to the wire again, but after taking down Finland in the semifinal, there have been questions raised about the officiating decision.

The 2026 Olympic Games have been one of the most exciting hockey tournaments in history, and since the knockout runs have begun, the level of play has been taken to another level entirely.
For Canada, both their quarterfinal and semifinal matchups have gone down to the wire, with the team booking a spot in the gold medal game thanks to a late go ahead goal by Nathan MacKinnon against Finland in the semis.
However, the officials have also been in the spotlight in the tournament, especially after the controversial no-call when Czechia scored a late go ahead goal against Canada with six men on the ice.

Fans complain about officiating decision for Finland-Canada

Despite that going against the Canadians, many have called out the officials at this tournament for favouring the gold medal favourites, and that continued ahead of the matchup against Finland.
Before the game even began, it was pointed out that the two officials in the game were both Canadian, and while that comes about because the majority of officials in hockey are Canadian, it's certainly something that many will point to as a spot of bias towards Team Canada.
Ultimately, there were some calls that could have gone either way in this game, but at the end of the day, the players on the ice were the ones who decided the outcome, and on Friday, it was Canada that were the better team as they booked their spot in the gold medal match against either Slovakia or the United States.
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Officiating decision for Canada-Finland semifinal raises eyebrows

Was this as big a deal as some have made it out to be?


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