MILAN — After a 48-hour delay due to a norovirus outbreak on the Finnish women’s national team, Team Canada finally made its Olympic debut with a dominant 4-0 win against Switzerland.
Saturday’s game was also in doubt after the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation said the team was isolating “as a precaution” after a player was diagnosed with norovirus on Friday night.
“There was no fear that (today’s game) would be canceled or postponed,” said Canadian forward Blayre Turnbull before the game. “We knew it was very contained.”
The Swiss Ice Hockey Federation said in a statement on Saturday that no other players and staff have shown any norovirus symptoms and that more than 48 hours had passed since the team’s last contact with the affected player. International Olympic Committee medical director Jane Thorton told The Athletic via email that “there is no reason to suspect” the cases of norovirus for Team Finland and Switzerland are related at this stage.
With the Games finally underway, the Canadians outshot Switzerland a whopping 55-6. The Swiss gave Canada five power plays — three in the third period — with Natalie Spooner scoring on one in the second period and Sarah Fillier and Julia Gosling scoring on two in the third period. Daryl Watts added a late goal — the first of her Olympic career and Canada’s only one at even strength.
“We talked before the game to stay out of the penalty box,” said Swiss forward Rahel Enzler. “But it’s hard against Canada.”
Canada allowed just three shots on goal through two periods. That’s the second-fewest shots on goal allowed by Canada’s women in an Olympic hockey game through 40 minutes.
Emerance Maschmeyer had a simple six-save shutout.
The Canadians improved to 6-0 against the Swiss at the Olympics, outscoring them 44-6. Overall, since 1997, Canada is 22-0 against Switzerland.
Canada’s next game is on Monday at 9:10 p.m. local (3:10 ET) against the Czech Republic.
Swiss goalie Saskia Maurer made 51 saves against Canada. (Alexander Nemenov / AFP via Getty Images)
Saskia Maurer alone on an island
Maurer, thrust into action for the second game in a row, can hold her head high. Maurer was outshot 30-3 after two periods, yet the only goal she allowed was Spooner’s tally off Marie-Philip Poulin’s rebound.
“She was unreal,” Spooner said.
Canada peppered her persistently, yet she turned virtually everything aside, from deflections, shots through traffic, point-blank chances and shots off the rush.
Maurer is the only reason this was not a bigger rout, although there was only so much she could take as she allowed three in the third. Maurer finished with 51 saves.
“Tired,” Mauer said, smiling, when asked how she was feeling. “But we knew Canada was one of the best teams in the world.”
Debut(s) delayed
After Thursday’s game was postponed, the Canadians held a closed practice at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena to mimic their late start times in the preliminary round. General manager Gina Kingsbury said the practice was closed to give the players 24 hours to decompress after hearing their Olympic debut would be delayed until Saturday.
Ahead of the game, players shrugged off the schedule changes, with Turnbull calling it “just a little bump in the road.”
It helps that Canada has 16 players on the roster who had to wear masks during a preliminary round game against Russia at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. That game was delayed over an hour due to COVID-19 test processing. Russian players removed their masks after the first two periods once the tests showed no players were positive. The Canadians kept their masks on and won 6-1.
“I think the girls who were at the COVID Olympics as well have seen many things like this before,” said Olympic rookie Jennifer Gardiner.
“I think you look at our leader, Marie-Philip Poulin, obviously, she is the way she is because she shows up every single day at her best, no matter what. So, I think not letting something like this get in the way of that, and just moving forward with what we do have is going to be really important for us.”
Emerance Maschmeyer gets the nod
It was perhaps a bit surprising that Maschmeyer, Canada’s No. 2 goalie, got the start on Saturday. But Ryan said after the game that it was always his plan to start Maschmeyer against Switzerland.
“Not necessarily the plan to play her in Game 1,” Ryan said, laughing. “But we had to adjust a little bit.”
The game was just Maschmeyer’s third Olympic start and her first major international game since the 2024 women’s world championship; she was injured last season in the PWHL and missed the 2025 tournament.
In her last start for Team Canada at the December Rivalry Series, Maschmeyer gave up five goals against Team USA. She looked better on Saturday, though she was barely tested against the fifth-best team in the world.
It stands to reason that we’ll get our first look at Canada’s No. 1 goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens on Monday.
Natalie Spooner’s role
It took just 27 minutes for Spooner to prove why she deserved a spot on Canada’s Olympic roster. She’s had a slow start to the 2025-26 PWHL season, with three goals in 16 games, but Canada still saw her as a valuable veteran to bring to Milan in a Swiss Army Knife-type role.
Spooner started the game as the 13th forward, a role she accepted with an open mind.
“I am happy to play at 13th forward,” Spooner told The Athletic. “It is my fourth Olympics. Every time I get a chance, I will go out and be an impact player.”
She took several five-on-five shifts on the top line with Poulin and Laura Stacey, and assumed her typical net-front role on the first power-play unit. It was in that role where Spooner scored her first goal of the tournament after jamming home a rebound in the blue paint.
“We know she can play a little bit anywhere,” said Ryan. “Honestly, on any power-play unit in the world, Spooner could be a net front player on that.
“It’s just awesome to see her get rewarded with a typical Spooner goal in the net front.”
Daryl Watts’ big night
Saturday night had a little bit of everything for Watts: She made her Olympic debut, scored her first-ever goal at the tournament and took a penalty for defending Spooner.
If you ask Watts, the latter was one of the most important moments of the night.
“It was a dirty cross check to her back and Spooner is just the sweetest girl in the world,” Watts said after the game. “It really upset me to see her get cross-checked like that. I wanted to stick up for her and grab the girl’s jersey and say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’
“She punched me in the head and I got a penalty, but it’s OK.”
Not to be overlooked, Watts’ goal was the perfect example of what she can bring to Team Canada. Her impact at five-on-five is exceptional and she’s one of the game’s best offensive players. Watts loves to shoot the puck and often makes it count. This time, it was a perfectly placed shot that beat Maurer clean.
Watts’ line with Sarah Fillier and Sarah Nurse has the potential to be one of Canada’s best. And when Ryan started tinkering with his forward lines, it was the only one to go untouched.
