Team Finland Panthers ready to face Team Canada 'brothers' in Olympic semifinals

MILAN -- When Niko Mikkola, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen take the ice for Team Finland in the semifinals of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 at Santagiulia Arena on Friday, they will bring with them a wealth of big-game experience.

The three members of the Florida Panthers also will see some very familiar faces.

On the other team will be forwards Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand, also members of the Panthers.

But when Finland faces Team Canada (10:40 a.m. ET; Peacock, USA [JIP], ICI Tele, CBC Gem, CBC, SN [JIP], RDS2) with a trip to the championship game on the line, it all goes out the window.

"We're brothers. We've been playing for years together. We've been winning together. You know, we've been through it all together," Lundell said. "But this is a different mindset. Now we're enemies. Now we're on different sides."

Bennett, Reinhart, Lundell and Luostarinen have been teammates in Florida since the start of the 2021-22 season. Mikkola arrived at the start of 2023-24 season and Marchand was traded to Florida last March.

Aside from Mikkola and Marchand, the other four have been to the Stanley Cup Final three straight seasons. Mikkola has won back-to-back Cups with the other four, and Marchand was part of last season's Cup championship.

But with the chance to win a gold medal, any ties to the Panthers go out the window for this game.

"They're unbelievable players, obviously," Mikkola said. "And it's going to be little bit a little bit weird to play against them, but in the end it's the Olympic semifinals, so you put that on the side and focus on winning the gold."

But how easy or difficult is it to do that?

Bennett said it's not hard at all.

"I think they all understand how important this is, how much we want this," Bennett said. "I mean, they are not going to take it personal or anything. You're out there going to win a hockey game and you're doing whatever it takes.

"So you can flip that switch pretty easily."

It's all part of the Olympics, Luostarinen said.

"When you're on the ice you don't really remember who you play against," Luostarinen said. "All you're doing is your own thing, and just try to try to win."

But that's not to say playing against each other won't be hard.

Lundell and Luostarinen are two of best two-way players in the NHL and Mikkola, at 6-foot-6, 204 pounds, is a force on the defensive end. It was Lundell who sprung Artturi Lehkonen for his game-winning breakaway goal in overtime against Team Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Reinhart is one of the top goal-scorers in the NHL, getting an NHL career high 57 two seasons ago and scoring 27 in 57 games this season. Bennett, who missed Canada's 4-3 overtime win against Czechia on Wednesday because of an illness, is an absolute wrecking ball on the ice, and Marchand is a rare combination of extreme talent and ability to get under an opponents' skin.

"Obviously they're great players, and can't wait to compete against them,” Luostarinen said.

Mikkola said he hasn't spoken to his Panthers teammates recently, but the idea of possibly playing each other was discussed before they came to Milan.

"We all knew we were probably going to play against some of our teammates and we already have as well," Mikkola said. "It is the name of the game. It's a normal thing already, it's the Olympics. We focus on Team Finland."

Asked if he talked with Panthers teammates on Team Canada before the game, Luostarinen said probably not.

Asked if they will chat postgame, he said, "we'll see how it goes."