Montreal Canadiens' Oliver Kapanen disrespected by Team Finland

The 2026 Olympic mens hockey tournament has officially begun, and with so much NHL talent all over the tournament with the return of the best-on-best, it's safe to say that it has the entire sporting world talking.

One team that's hopeful of a gold medal in 2026 is Finland, a team that showed out during the Four Nations Face Off back in 2025, but they've also been criticized for a major decision heading into the tournament.

Ahead of their first game against Team Slovakia, Finland made the shock decision to not play Montreal's Oliver Kapanen, a player that is their only right-handed centre, and unsurprisingly, they've been called out on social media, this time by Canadiens reporter Eric Engels.

Not only that, but he would have been matched up against former No. 1 overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, whom he knows well as a teammate in Montreal, and that's led to plenty of fans criticizing Finland's decision on social media.

This season for Montreal, Kapanen has tallied 18 goals and 31 points in 57 games played, and with that ranking him sixth in the forward group in NHL scoring this season, it makes the decision from Finland even more questionable.

Ultimately, he's not going to sit every game of this Olympic tournament, as he's incredibly valuable to Finland's chances of winning a medal, but given how important a hot start to a tournament like this is, it's a move that will be questioned if this team doesn't live up to expectations.

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