Ice Hockey World Championship, Semi-finals on Saturday, 30/05/2026, 20:00
The quarter-final win against the arch-rival, who became Olympic champions a few months ago, could have put the Maple Leafs on course for the world championship title. They showed an enormous amount of commitment against the USA and suddenly looked perfectly rehearsed as a collective.
However, exactly this perfection will also be necessary in the semi-finals to successfully implement my Canada Finland tip. The Scandinavians travel to Zurich in strong form and are known to be a tough nut to crack!
Except for defender Wotherspoon, I really liked Canada against the USA overall – especially the two goal scorers Celebrini and Crosby could be relied on as usual.
As a player bet for an additional Canada Finland tip for the semi-finals, I would even recommend Celebrini to score at 2.55. The greatest ice hockey talent of his generation has a good to very good chance of scoring in his fourth World Cup game in a row.
You may remember the Olympic semi-final in February, when Canada beat Finland 3-2 – Celebrini provided a key assist for the late winner!
By the way, what is meant is the selection: Both teams score at least 2 times at very fair Canada Finland odds of about 1.75. Because both heavyweights have strong defenses, which may be topped by an even stronger offense.
The game could easily be 2-2 in the meantime, before the Canadians pull away in the final period at the latest. The Scandinavians have everything to keep the game close for a long time.
The Finns will by no means go down without a fight with their strong attack around Barkov. In addition, the Maple Leafs owed their 4-0 victory in the quarterfinals against the USA primarily to an outstanding goalkeeping performance.
However, I don’t expect NHL goalie Jet Greaves to make another 34 clean shots on goal – after all, it was his first and so far only shutout at this tournament!
The direct comparison gives my Canada Finland tip from the headline additional substance. He confirms that the motherland of ice hockey is usually a small but decisive step ahead of the lightning-fast northern Europeans.
Of the last four duels, Canada won three. Particularly noteworthy are the Olympic semi-finals in Milano-Cortina and the Four Nations faceoff about a year ago.
At the same time, the overtime potential should not be underestimated: In 4 of the last 9 direct encounters, it went into overtime – a clear indication of the close basic tendency of this duel.
Conclusion: It will be a close game, there is no doubt about that. Just as the Canadians took revenge on the USA for losing the final at the Olympics, the Finns want to take revenge on the North Americans for the narrow 3-2 defeat in the previous semi-final.
The Finns have everything they need to keep up. Nevertheless, in the end, I assume that the North Americans will ultimately have the upper hand – not least because the victory over their southern neighbor has given them an enormous mental boost.
