Teuvo Teravainen and Team Finland are set to play Switzerland in the quarterfinal round of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Team Finland had a rough start to the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan, losing to Slovakia, but bounced back with wins over Sweden and Italy. Instead of rolling over and letting others jump them, they locked in and earned the number four seed as the best second-place team.
Winning the next two after dropping that first game loomed large for the Finnish, who come into every best-on-best tournament as one of the top four favorites. Now, they are in the quarterfinals after earning a bye as the 4 seed.
The only Chicago Blackhawks Olympian is Teuvo Teravainen, who plays for Finland. One of Chicago’s top veterans plays a depth forward role on a Finnish team that has plenty of star power.
They now know their quarterfinal opponent after an early qualifying game. Finland will play against Switzerland, which defeated Team Italy on Tuesday in the qualifying round by a score of 3-0.
This is going to be a battle between two teams with NHL star talent at the top of their rosters, but filled out with Euroleague players as depth. The Finns will be the favorite in this matchup, but the Swiss have proven to be one of the legit medal contenders this year.
If Teravainen's team wants to win, there is a good chance that he needs to find the scoresheet. Finland's top offensive players like Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz, and Sebastian Aho are likely to see a fair amount of Nico Hischier and Roman Josi defending them.
If Teravainen, who may be free of facing that level of resistance from Switzerland, can score a goal or make a play, it may be the difference in the game.
Finland and Switzerland’s quarterfinal match will take place on Wednesday at 11 AM Central Time.
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