Teemu Selanne criticizes ‘Canadian referees’ after Olympic semi-final loss

Teemu Selänne expressed great frustration with the lead in Friday’s Olympic men’s hockey semi-final, in which Finland lost 3-2 to Canada at Milano Cortina 2026. A late-game penalty gave Team Canada a chance to take the lead, and Nathan MacKinnon scored with seconds left, allowing Canada to finally advance.

The Finnish hockey legend went to X immediately after the match to shoot down the referees – most notably awarding a late high-stick penalty for Finn Niko Mikkola (for a stick-up high for Nathan MacKinnon). Presumably suggesting it was an embellishment, fans were quick to respond with the fact that the punishment, while not egregious, was a punishment. With about 90 seconds left, it was clear the stick came up and hit MacKinnon in the face. That penalty gave Canada a power play, leading directly to MacKinnon’s game-winning goal with 35.2 seconds left.

Selänne’s post blew up with thousands of likes/reposts. He wrote: “It’s impossible to beat the greatest hockey nation in the world and the Canadian referees on the same night, I think… absolutely embarrassing penalty, 90 seconds to go in the Olympic semi-final… what a joke?”

He implied bias since the referees (Eric Furlatt and Dan O’Rourke) are Canadian. That generated more than a thousand responses, one of which came from former NHL great Chris Pronger. He replied, “I hear you Teemu, but you know as well as I do that in these types of tournaments you can’t sit back for more than 30 minutes and not expect bad things to happen. Just sayin’.”

Pronger was right when he said Finland played the game and tried not to lose it after taking the lead. Canada applied all the pressure, eventually forcing Finland to take penalties.

It was a close match with plenty of drama, and Finnish players past and present were expected to be upset. Finn Joel Armia said after the defeat: “Five against five they scored one goal. That was goalkeeper interference.” He was referring to the goal scored when Brad Marchand collided with Juuse Saros in the crease.

Selänne might also be a little upset personally. His record of 11 points from 2006 had just been broken and topped by Connor McDavid in that game. He watched as his team was eliminated and his record erased.

Next: Late powerplay goal stands after failed challenge in Canada’s 3-2 thriller over Finland