Health of Finnish women's hockey team improving after players contracted norovirus

The situation with the Finland women's hockey team appears to be improving after an outbreak of norovirus depleted its roster and forced the postponement of its first game at the Olympics, and officials are optimistic the game Saturday against the United States will be played as scheduled.

Eleven skaters and all three goaltenders took part in practice Friday in the aftermath of Finland's opener against Canada getting pushed to Feb. 12. That is up from eight skaters and two goalies on the ice Thursday when the remaining 13 players were either infected or in quarantine.

"We still have nine players isolated, but we strongly believe we will play tomorrow," general manager Kimmo Oikarinen said, adding 14 skaters could be available. "It is getting better. Forfeit is the last thing we want to do. I don't believe we will go there. I do not see that happening."

Head coach Tero Lehtera said: "We will play the USA, no matter what."

The stomach illness began spreading earlier this week, and practice Wednesday was cancelled. The team has been in limbo since.

"It was disappointing," Oikarinen said. "It is the Olympic Games, and we have been waiting for this for years. We all wanted to play, but there are things that happen. The main focus was to make sure our players will be healthy as soon as possible."

"Unfortunately, it's part of life and you feel bad for the Finnish women," Denmark men's player Oliver Lauridsen said when asked about his concern over norovirus, which is highly communicable. "You've got to wash your hands. You've got to be careful and whatever.

“And then there's a good medical staff here to help. Just the fact that they would postpone a game also means that there is help to get and solutions in place in case stuff