‘We were supposed to win’: Czechia reacts to shocking women’s hockey loss to Sweden
The headline says it all.
Heading into the women’s ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics, many people expected Czechia to excel in its second appearance at the Winter Games, with a medal a strong possibility.
However, a stunning 2-0 loss to Sweden in the quarterfinals on Friday dashed all hopes of the team ending up on the podium.
“It’s a huge disappointment,” Czech forward Natálie Mlýnková said after the loss. “We were supposed to win. We didn’t score a goal. You can’t win without scoring a goal.”
Defender Aneta Tejralová admits the defeat has left her speechless.
“It’s sad, but Sweden did a great job,” Tejralová said. “They blocked so many shots. They were better than us. I just don’t have the words right now.”
Czechia came to Milan with one of the best forward groups in the tournament. Along with college stars Mlýnková and Adéla Šapovalivová, the Czechs possessed the odds-on favorite to win the PWHL Rookie of the Year award, Kristýna Kaltounková, as well as other PWHLers Tereza Vanišová and Denisa Křížová. Yet, the team scored just seven goals across the five games. Czechia was also abysmal on the power play, scoring just once on 12 opportunities on the player advantage.
Since their first trip to the Olympics four years ago, the Czech women’s program has been on the rise, making it to the semifinals at the IIHF Women’s World Championship in each of the past four tournaments, winning the bronze medal twice.
The massive strides the team has taken, only to come up short on sport’s biggest stage, make Friday’s loss sting.
“It’s huge,” Mlýnková said. “It hurts. It’s going to hurt for a long time. We were supposed to have this one. It sucks.”
Head coach Carla MacLeod sees how hard her players are taking the loss, and understands the feeling.
“It hurts right now, that’s why you’re seeing the tears,” MacLeod said. “They poured so much into this. … There’s no bigger sting than that missed opportunity. It feels, right now, like it’s a long time until the next Games.”
MacLeod, a gold medalist with Canada in 2006 and 2010 as a player, took over the program after the Beijing Olympics and has been vital to the program’s upswing. She notes that her team’s status as a medal contender demonstrates how far the Czech women’s team has come.
“Maybe five or 10 years down the way, they can look back at these four years and recognise the impact they’ve had on women’s hockey in Czechia. What we’ve been able to achieve has been nothing short of impressive, though it won’t be seen in this moment as we’ve fallen a little short of our goal.”
Sweden awaits its opponents for its first semifinal appearance since 2014. The final four of the women’s tournament is set for Monday, Feb. 16.