Chris Pronger bites back at legend Teemu Selanne's complaint over Olympic officiating
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Jonathan Ouimet
Feb 20, 2026 (6:42 PM)
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Photo credit: James Lang-Imagn Images
Teemu Selanne blamed the refs after Canada vs Finland, but Chris Pronger’s reply and that Niko Mikkola penalty tell a harsher truth about Olympic hockey.
Selanne’s frustration is easy to understand when your upset is seconds away.
With the score 2-2 late, Mikkola got called for a high stick on Nathan MacKinnon, and Canada made it hurt on the man advantage.
MacKinnon finished the comeback with 35.2 seconds left, a power-play dagger that sent Canada to the gold medal game.
That’s the moment Selanne couldn’t let go. He wrote that beating Canada and “Canadian referees” in the same night was “impossible,” calling it an “embarrassing” penalty with 90 seconds to go.
Pronger basically answered with the old defenseman shrug.
He told Selanne you “cannot sit back for 30+ mins” in this kind of tournament and expect anything but trouble.
And that’s where this gets uncomfortable for Finland, because both things can be true.
You can hate the timing of a whistle, and still admit your team stopped pushing the pace.
Finland led 2-0, then spent long stretches trying to protect the middle and survive waves.
Canada tilted the ice, hammered shots, and kept dragging the game into Finland’s end until something cracked.
Teemu Selanne and Team Finland felt the squeeze
As a fan watching, you could feel the Finnish confidence turn into pure clock-watching, and once that happens, every bounce feels like it’s coming for you.
Pronger’s point is savage because it’s simple hockey math.
If you keep giving the puck back to elite players, they eventually draw blood, either on the scoreboard or on your penalty kill.
Mikkola’s stick rode up, the ref’s arm went up, and the entire game flipped in one breath.
That doesn’t erase Finland’s effort, or the emotional gut punch of losing that close to the finish line.
It just underlines the tournament rule Pronger is preaching, you don’t win gold by sitting back and hoping the universe stays polite.
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