Canada’s men’s hockey team is back in the gold medal game at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Games, and Winnipeggers will have the chance to cheer on the team at some of their favourite watering holes Sunday morning.
The province announced on Friday that bars and restaurants are permitted to open early on Sunday, giving fans a chance to watch Canada clash with their U.S. rivals in the final event of the Games in Milan.
Licensed establishments that apply for early opening can serve liquor as early as one hour before the televised game starts at 7:10 a.m. CT, the province said in a news release.
Manitoba regulations allow the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba to authorize extended hours for “events of community, provincial or national significance,” the release said.
Fifty-seven licensed premises had already received permission to open early for the game prior to the province’s announcement on Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the liquor authority said.
Canada’s team, which features Winnipeg’s Seth Jarvis and Travis Sanheim of Elkhorn, along with Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey, clinched its spot in the gold medal game after erasing a two-goal deficit against Finland on Friday, with Nathan MacKinnon’s final-minute one-timer clinching a 3-2 semifinal victory.
The U.S. blasted by upstart Slovakia 6-2 later in the day to earn its first trip to the gold medal game since falling to Canada on Sidney Crosby’s golden goal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Fans celebrate after MacKinnon scored the go-ahead goal during Friday’s semifinal game. (Petr David Josek/The Associated Press)
Shortly after the final horn of the Canada-Finland game sounded, Underdogs, a sports bar on the west side of Winnipeg, said in a social media post it would be opening at 6:30 a.m. Sunday.
“We wanted to join the party. It’s going to be a fun time for the whole city to get up early and support the team,” said Frank Fiorillo, a part owner of Underdogs.
He can’t recall the last time the sports bar opened so early for a marquee sporting event, but the response from the community was swift.
It took only about four hours for Underdogs to completely book up its 150 seats, though an estimated 30 seats around the bar will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, Fiorillo said.
Underdogs had a sign cheering on the Winnipeg Jets during the 2023 NHL playoffs. The sports bar is fully booked ahead of Sunday morning’s Olympic gold medal men’s hockey game, featuring Canada and the U.S. (Walther Bernal/CBC)
He told CBC he was “shocked” by how quickly his business booked up.
“I thought we’re going to be taking reservations into [Saturday], but our loyal customer base booked it up pretty quick, which we’re grateful for,” Fiorillo said.
Colin Koop would also like to see a full house at his establishment early Sunday morning.
The Devil May Care Brewing Company general manager and co-owner says the downtown Winnipeg business’s doors will open just before 7 a.m. It’s asking prospective customers to bring their own breakfast.
“I am a hockey fan. I especially love it when people are into it. I love Olympic hockey. I love when people are behind the Jets,” Koop said.
“I get into sports that I’m not even really into based on people around me and how much people are excited.”
Colin Koop is the general manager and co-owner of Devil May Care Brewing Company. (Josh Crabb/CBC)
There were a few people watching Canada’s semifinal contest at the brewery, and following Canada’s comeback win, Koop and his fellow co-owner decided they should explore the idea of opening up well before the usual Sunday noon opening.
“I’m really happy that the powers that be make the changes so quickly to be able to allow us to do this. Literally as soon as the game finished, I sent a message to our licensing adviser at the province and got a response back really quickly saying, yes, this is what you can do,” Koop said.
Capacity is around 100, but when the brewery has previously opened up in the mornings — usually for European football matches — it usually doesn’t have more than 30 people.
Koop is optimistic that more Winnipeggers will turn up to cheer Canada on.
“Really hard to say if people are really into it, which I suspect they will be. You know, we could push capacity and that would be incredible,” he said. “I would love that on Sunday morning.”