Ice Hockey Discussion | Qualification to Winter Olympic Games Milano-Cortina 2026 Road to Milano-Cortina 2026

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Question for anybody here.  I see the women are having a prelim round in December then final Olympic Qualification in Feb. 2025. Does anyone here follow the women's tournaments ? I never have but think i will watch for the first time.  Anybody have thoughts on the 21 teams trying for the 3 spots ?

[hckošice 14,822]

On 9/1/2024 at 9:15 PM, hckošice said:

Mens Ice Hockey Tournament Groups

 

 

1) If is in (Personally I put a 20% chance)

 

A-  

B-

C-

 

 

2) If banned and is repeached as best 2nd team from the Final Qualifying Tournaments

(Personally I put a 50% chance)

 

A-

B-

C-

 

 

3) If banned and is repeached as highest seeded non-qualified (Personally I put a 30% chance)

 

A-

B-

C-

 

On 9/2/2024 at 12:01 PM, hckošice said:

I made a small mistake here. in the B variant (the more likely)

 

In case Russia banned and getting repeached (according to rumors behind the scenes it is amost certain now)

 

France will be in Group B and Denmark in Group C

 

so...

 

A-

B-

C-

So, I was wrong AGAIN !

 

Definitely, not my best period lol...

 

 

So, If not allowed the host will be moved to group B, despite being behind in the world Ranking, but

 

*As France has qualified as the combined best second ranked team from the Final Olympic Qualification, it has been decided to grant them ranking 12th. 

 

At least IIHF confirmed that it will be who will replace in case of continuing ban (almost certain) The final decision on Russian hockey in Milano will be revealed this March

 

 

 

 

https://www.iihf.com/en/news/62507/2026_men_s_winter_olympic_games_qualifications

 

Following the Men’s Olympic qualifications which took place in three different locations over the last weekend in Bratislava, Riga and Aalborg. Slovakia, Latvia and Denmark were able to qualify for the next 2026 Winter Olympic Games. 


Based on the results, the following groups will apply during the competition: 

 

Group A	Group B	Group C
Canada	Finland	Russia
Sweden	Germany	United States
Switzerland	Czechia	Slovakia
Italy	Denmark	Latvia

With respect to Russia’s participation, the IIHF would like to remind you that the following two alternatives will apply depending on the situation: 


1)    In the event that Russia participates in the tournament, the team will take part according to the pre-established ranking; 


2)    If Russia is not able to participate, France would be qualified for the Olympic Games as the second best placed team – according to the Combined Ranking from the three Final Olympic Qualification Groups played in August 24th, 2024.   


In case Russia is not allowed to participate, the groups would then appear as follows

 

Group A	Group B	Group C
Canada	Finland	United States
Switzerland	Sweden	Germany
Czechia	Slovakia	Latvia
France*	Italy	Denmark

*As France has qualified as the combined best second ranked team from the Final Olympic Qualification, it has been decided to grant them ranking 12th. 
 

[copravolley 255]

https://italia.hockey/2024/09/05/presentato-a-milano-lhead-coach-della-nazionale-italiana-di-hockey-su-ghiaccio-jukka-jalonen/

 

The new staff has already been presented. I wonder if the results will be better than the Canadian school? There is little time... What do you think?

[intoronto 5,638]

11 minutes ago, copravolley said:

https://italia.hockey/2024/09/05/presentato-a-milano-lhead-coach-della-nazionale-italiana-di-hockey-su-ghiaccio-jukka-jalonen/

 

The new staff has already been presented. I wonder if the results will be better than the Canadian school? There is little time... What do you think?

Have they recruited any dual nationals?

[copravolley 255]

2 hours ago, intoronto said:

Have they recruited any dual nationals?

Probably only those who have played with us before. There is no chance of aquistion someone from the NHL because there is too little time.

[phelps 7,670]

2 hours ago, intoronto said:

Have they recruited any dual nationals?

no, there's no chance to find new names, as they would need to play at least 2 years with an Italian club...and our clubs have no money to sign very good players

 

moreover, the federation has always been against that kind of politics...they just want to grant a place in the NT to the (very modest and with no attitude) guys from the Alpine Valleys

 

 

they always tried to prevent hockey to become a true national sport (and finally they could reach their result when high level game disappeared from Milan after the glory days of the Nineties)

 

now they have their place in the Institutions and can develop also their international career without having to cope with any kind of National interest 

[phelps 7,670]

3 hours ago, copravolley said:

https://italia.hockey/2024/09/05/presentato-a-milano-lhead-coach-della-nazionale-italiana-di-hockey-su-ghiaccio-jukka-jalonen/

 

The new staff has already been presented. I wonder if the results will be better than the Canadian school? There is little time... What do you think?

he will take the money and then he'll be back home in 2 years

 

nothing will change for us because there's no money, no infrastructures, no players (and those who are there have no talent nor attitude), no public and media interest

 

basically, hockey in Italy doesn't exist anymore since mid/late Nineties...there's just a parody of it

Edited September 10 by phelps

[intoronto 5,638]

and are the newest members of the IIHF 

[NearPup 3,045]

1 hour ago, intoronto said:

and are the newest members of the IIHF 

Can't wait for to be the B team!

[Federer91 2,793]

Looks like NHL players are going to be allowed in the next 2 Olympics, if you are to believe a Bulgarian website, that quotes Bettman. Not sure how serious this info is.