5 things to know Thursday at the Winter Games

From the first game involving Team Canada in the return of men's best-on-best international hockey to a pair of near-misses on the ski slope that brought in two silver medals for the Canadians, here are five things to know from Thursday, Feb. 12 at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games:

From the first game involving Team Canada in the return of men’s best-on-best international hockey to a pair of near-misses on the ski slope that brought in two silver medals for the Canadians, here are five things to know from Thursday, Feb. 12 at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games:

… AND WE’RE BACK

Canada’s men’s hockey team won its first game of the tournament as NHL players returned to the Olympics for the first time since the 2014 Sochi Games. The Canadian team soundly defeated Czechia 5-0 with goals from Macklin Celebrini, Mark Stone, Bo Horvat, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki. Jordan Binnington, who wasn’t named Canada’s starter until shortly before the game, made 26 saves for the shutout. The Canadians did suffer an injury as defenceman Josh Morrissey left the game and did not return. Canada next takes on Switzerland on Friday.

CLOSE BUT SILVER CIGARS

Canada won a pair of silver medals on the hills of Livigno, narrowly missing gold in both cases. In men’s moguls, freestyle star Mikael Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes, Que., won his fourth Olympic medal but had to settle for silver after matching gold medallist Cooper Woods of Australia with an identical score. Kingsbury was relegated to second because Woods had the higher turns score — the technical element that accounts for 60 per cent of the total. Canada also nearly won gold in snowboard cross, where Eliot Grondin finished second behind Austria’s Alessandro Haemmerle, repeating their 1-2 result from Beijing 2022. Both Grondin and Kingsbury said they were satisfied with their performances despite narrowly missing gold.

SARAULT COMES CLUTCH LATE

Canada’s Courtney Sarault spent much of the women’s 500-metre short-track final in fourth, outside the podium picture. But on the final lap, she surged past the Netherlands’ Selma Poutsma and lunged at the line, getting her skate across to secure bronze. The Moncton native edged Poutsma by .064 seconds. Meanwhile, Montreal’s William Dandjinou met the opposite fate in the men’s 1,000 metres, leading most of the race before being passed on the inside by Dutch skater Jens van ‘t Wout, who went on to win gold, and overtaken by two more skaters to finish fourth.

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