Finland's Nelli Laitinen knows there will be challenges ahead at the 2026 Olympics, but she's confident in the roster her nation is fielding as they look to earn their fifth medal in the sport.
Finland has won bronze at four of the seven Olympic women's hockey tournaments all-time. They'll look to add to that in Italy, and defender Nelli Laitinen believes her nation is well prepared.
Laitinen scored seven points in seven games at the 2022 Olympics helping Finland earn bronze. This time around she feels as though the nation has a solid mix of veteran leadership and youthful talent that will help them not only contend for bronze, but to push Canada and USA as well.
"We have great mix of older players like (Jenni) Hiirikoski and (Michelle) Karvinen and also some new players coming in and taking the next step. It should be exciting," Laitinen told The Hockey News.
Laitinen is in her final season at the University of Minnesota where she's already set new career highs for goals (10) and points (28) in 26 games. She's excited to get back to international competition, and to get the final stage of Olympic preparation underway so that Finland can find their rhythm as a group, including under new head coach Tero Lehterä.
"I’m super excited, it’s going to be fun to get back to international game," said Laitinen. "We have a new coach and we haven’t had that much experience with the whole team as a group. It’s going to be a very important couple of days before the games start just to get back together as a group and have a couple practices, and then just see how it goes. I’m feeling very confidence with our group."
Laitinen, who plans to join the PWHL next season sees the increasing numbers of Finnish players competing in the PWHL as a positive for international hopes as well. This season that list includes Michelle Karvinen (Vancouver), Susanna Tapani (Boston), Ronja Savolainen (Ottawa), and Sanni Ahola (Ottawa). That number is expected to grow significantly in the coming seasons however, as Laitinen, Petra Nieminen, Jennina Nylund, and Viivi Vainikka are all expected to declare for the 2026 PWHL Draft and be sure-fire picks. Ida Kuoppala and Emma Nuutinen could also join the league, and there's a growing belief among those within Finland's national program and in the SDHL that Jenni Hiirikoski may opt to finish her storied career with a season or two in the PWHL as well.
"Getting more players to the PWHL will help our national team as well so we are able to challenge USA and Canada internationally in the future," Laitinen said.
That will all begin on February 5 when the 2026 Olympics open in Milano Cortina, Italy.
Finland will not need to wait long to test themselves as they begin the 2026 tournament facing Canada on the opening day.