Men's Ice Hockey Tournament at the Winter Olympic Games Beijing 2022

[Vojthas 947]

31 minutes ago, hckosice said:

Final Olympic Qualification (27-30 August 2020)

Group D In Košice, Slovakia.:        

Quite a good opportunity to train my Slovakian a year before EYOF in Banska Bystrica.

Spoiler

Hahaha, kidding - why should I train Slovakian when I speak Polish?

 

[cornwall0001 5]

I am travelling home from watching the group in Nottingham but thought I would post my thoughts, first of all I enjoyed watching all of the matches and felt there was a good atmosphere at the games.

 

I do feel sorry for the Estonian team after their games but it was always going to be a difficult group for them, the Romanian team impressed me and gave both Great Britain and Hungary tough matches so I will be interested to see how they perform in Division 1A this year.

 

It would have been nice to see Great Britain reach the final round of qualifying but full credit to Hungary who played well and deservedly won the group, good luck to them for the final round in Latvia.

 

Hopefully we can have more tournaments like this in Great Britain in the future.

[hckošice 13,203]

ROAD TO BEIJING 2022

 

 

3rd QUALIFYING ROUND

 

Group G

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Slovenia’s Olympic dream alive

 

 

 

Slovenia came back from a one-goal deficit to beat Japan 6-2 and earn a berth in the Final Olympic Qualification. There the Slovenes will play in Group F with host Norway, Denmark and Korea, and hope to make it to the Olympic Winter Games for the third consecutive time.

The game was tighter than the score indicates as it was 1-1 after 40 minutes. Japan played strong defensively in the first period and created a few but good scoring chances to earn a 1-0 first-period lead but the Slovenes dominated the rest of the game and took the lead in the third period. Slovenia outshot Japan 38-13.

“We knew before the game what kind of team they are. We knew they would going to be strong in the defensive zone and make it hard to create some scoring chances, and they are really fast skaters. They just had a few chances but their chances were really good. We knew what to expect and when we scored the second and third goal it became easier for us,” said Ken Ograjensek, who scored the 2-1 goal.

Both teams liked to make things clear from the beginning in the first two days but in this top game of the group they found each other evenly matched early on. Slovenia may have had more chances but whenever the puck went to the net, it was blocked beforehand by the Japanese.

There was no shot on goal the netminders – Gasper Kroselj on the Slovenian and Yutaka Fukufuji on the Japanese side – had to stop during the first six minutes of play. Then a penalty for high-sticking against Tadej Cimzar gave Japan the opportunity on the power play. It didn’t result in too much danger during the man advantage but three seconds later the Japanese netted the puck.

Yushiroh Hirano took a lot of attention at the blue line with agile skating and eventually sent off a distance shot. Kroselj blocked to the left but Shogo Nakajima was on the spot to score on the rebound and give Japan the lead at 8:02.

The Slovenes were shocked and at 9:06 they finally got their first shot on Fukufuji’s goal with more to come when the Japanese took a bench penalty for too many men on the ice. However, the Slovenes neither used that opportunity nor another one with Makuru Furuhashi in the penalty box for interference. They had their scoring chances but Japan was as close to the second goal with a counter-attack late in an opening frame that ended with a one-goal lead for the Japanese.

“This was a tough tournament because you must win. We played 90 per cent in the offensive zone the whole tournament. The goalies had maybe ten shots a games. This is not easy to adjust your game. It’s not the way we want to play hockey. But we did our job and look forward,” said head coach Matjaz Kopitar.

The Slovenes eventually levelled the score on their first power play of the middle frame. With Hiroto Sato out for hooking and the home team launching another attack, Jan Urbas got the puck in the neutral zone, elegantly skated past Kenta Takagi and Shinya Yanadori and beat Fukufuji with a precise shot at 5:54.

“It was definitely a relief. When you have so many shots and the puck doesn’t go in, it definitely makes a difference and gets the team going. It was an important goal and we got some more later on. In the end the score looks like an easy win. But it wasn’t. They were a really good opponent,” Urbas said.

“We knew we had the quality but they were really good defensively. They didn’t allow us easy shots and they got the first goal. That made it harder for us. But in the second period we stepped up, we played our game. We deserve that win and are happy about it.”

 

The Slovenes dominated the period and didn’t allow the Japanese a single chance but Fukufuji had a strong day in the net and with a lot of sacrifice the Japanese players blocked many shots.

 

The direction of the game continued in the third period and a hooking call against Kohei Sato gave Slovenia new opportunities. Just before the expiration Ograjensek got the puck in good position and gave Slovenia its first lead at 5:19.

One-and-a-half minutes later with four on four skaters on the ice the Japanese had trouble getting the puck out of the zone. Robert Sabolic deked Yanadori with some nice stickhandling and beat Fukufuji for the 3-1 goal. Now the game finally went according to the host nation’s wish and the pressure moved to the Japanese.

Japan now became more active on its own but didn’t manage to score a second goal. With 2:37 left in the game Rok Ticar made it 4-1 with a shot into the empty net when Japan pulled the goalie for a sixth skater.

The Japanese didn’t give up and pulled Fukufuji again while having a power play. With 6-on-4 skaters it was again Nakajima, who scored for Japan. But Slovenia added two more goals to seal the win. And with that the “Mission Beijing” continues with the Final Olympic Qualification in Norway.

Can the Slovenes qualify for the Olympics as an underdog for the third consecutive time?

 

And since it’s at the end of August, he could potentially have his son, Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar, on his team.

Until then it’s still more than half a year to go and until then the Slovenes have another mission on home ice.

“We will have the World Championship, that’s our next step. We have to get ready for that first and then we can think about later,” said Ograjensek.

The Slovenes will host the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A on home ice at Hala Tivoli in downtown Ljubljana. That makes it to chances this year to qualify for a top-level event.

 

 

IIHF.COM

[hckošice 13,203]

ROAD TO BEIJING 2022

 

 

3rd QUALIFYING ROUND

 

Group J

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Hungary off to Final Olympic Qualification

 

 

Hungary weathered a storm inside and outside Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, defeating Great Britain 4-1 to secure a place in the Final Olympic Qualification.

"Chills all over that's for sure, that's a game we will all remember when we stop playing hockey," said Hungarian captain Gergo Nagy. 

Miklos Rajna was the star in net with a 47-plus save performance, while Csanad Erdely score the game winner for the Magyars.

"We knew the team we were going to face and what to do to beat them," said Rajna, who earned Player of the Game honours. "We exectued the game plan perfect."

Coming into the third period with a hard-fought 2-0 lead, Hungary was trying to stop any notions of a comeback by Great Britain.

The Brits looked to have gotten that spark with an early power play goal from Matthew Myers, who came away with the puck after a scramble in front of the net and shot it through the legs of goalie Miklos Rajna to cut the lead to 2-1 less that a minute into the frame. A tremendous point-blank save by Bowns a few minutes later galvanized the crowd in Nottingham and pushed the momentum further towards the home team.

But Hungary put the brakes on a British comeback thanks to a great effort by tournament leading scorer Janos Hari, who was able to gain possession behind the British net on the forecheck, then score with a wraparound effort to put the Hungarians back up by two. Then Hungary put the game out of reach after Istvan Sofron, who just came out of the penalty box after being called for a charge two minutes earlier, made a great effort skating across the front of the net to draw Bowns out of position before scoring the 4-1 goal and putting a stranglehold on the game.

The Group J finale was expected to be a tight one. Both the Brits and Hungarians were seeded #1 and #2 respectively coming into Group J, and made it through the first two games without a loss. The atmosphere inside Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena was electric, with fans for both teams shrugging off the rains and high winds from Storm Ciara to pack the stands.  

For some of the Hungarian players, a little extra motivation was there from two years ago, when Great Britain came back to win their matchup and promotion in Budapest at the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Divison I Group A. 

 

"We knew we owed this team badly from two years ago," said Nagy. "We wanted to pay it back and also get the chance to go the qualification round in August." 

The game started out at a blistering pace with both teams getting pressure at both ends of the ice.
The best chance of the period came to Hungary, but was denied by goalie Ben Bowns who made a great save on a breakaway by Kristof Papp midway through the frame. At the other end, a shot by Mike Hammond on an open net was blocked at the last moment by defenceman Daniel Kiss.

Penalty trouble coupled with an ineffective power play prevented Great Britain from getting anything going early on. Hungary started the second period with a power play, and defenceman Bence Stipsicz scored with a wristshot from the high slot area to break the deadlock and put Hungary up 1-0 less than a minute into the frame.

The Hungarians then added another at the eight minute, flashing some great puck movement as Istvan Sofrov won possession in the Great Britain zone, made a quick cross -ice pass behind the net to Bence Stipsicz, who centered the puck to Csanad Erdely in front of the net for the 2-0 lead.

Desperate to get a momentum-swinging goal before the end of the period, the Brits were buzzing around the Hungarian net, but ultimately were frustrated by some great goaltending from Miklos Rajna despite outshooting Hungary 22-6 in the frame.

Rajna would get some help from his teammates in the third, as Hungary fought hard to get in shooting lanes and block shots, while Hari and Saffron got pucks in the net to help keep the Magyars on the road to the Olympic Games in Beijing.

 

 

IIHF.COM

[hckošice 13,203]

The final OQT will be in Bratislava,

 

Our federation decided it today because of bigger arena than the Košice one. Also our federation already announced they will pay the NHL clubs in order to obtain permits from our NHLers employers also we will pay all insurance policies with the only goal for this whole year, to have all our NHLers/AHLers in Bratislava from 27th to 30th August 2020 and win that quota for Beijing.

 

The Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament group D will be played in the last August weekend between Belarus, Austria, Poland and the host Slovakia, with only the Group winner qualifying for the Olympics.

 

Slovakia never missed a Winter Olympics Ice Hockey Tournament since the independance.

 

This is Just to explain how this tournament in August will be the most important sport event for our country in this 2020 year

 

Source in SVK https://sport.aktuality.sk/c/437171/olympijska-kvalifikacia-slovensko-zoh-2022-definitivne-v-bratislave-satan-ratame-aj-s-hracmi-z-nhl/

[hckošice 13,203]

On 27. 2. 2020 at 18:43, hckosice said:

The final OQT will be in Bratislava,

 

Our federation decided it today because of bigger arena than the Košice one. Also our federation already announced they will pay the NHL clubs in order to obtain permits from our NHLers employers also we will pay all insurance policies with the only goal for this whole year, to have all our NHLers/AHLers in Bratislava from 27th to 30th August 2020 and win that quota for Beijing.

 

The Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament group D will be played in the last August weekend between Belarus, Austria, Poland and the host Slovakia, with only the Group winner qualifying for the Olympics.

 

Slovakia never missed a Winter Olympics Ice Hockey Tournament since the independance.

 

This is Just to explain how this tournament in August will be the most important sport event for our country in this 2020 year

 

Source in SVK https://sport.aktuality.sk/c/437171/olympijska-kvalifikacia-slovensko-zoh-2022-definitivne-v-bratislave-satan-ratame-aj-s-hracmi-z-nhl/

 

 

The Official release of IIHF with the official schedule

 

Olympic Qualification in Bratislava

 

The Ondrej Nepela Arena during the gold medal game of the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship

 

 

The Slovak Ice Hockey Federation as host of the men’s Final Olympic Qualification Group D has chosen Bratislava as host of the tournament. The other applicant in the final race was Kosice.

Host Slovakia will play Belarus as well as neighbours Austria and Poland at the Ondrej Nepela Arena, which was the main venue of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship last year.

The Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament in Beijing 2022 will be played with 12 teams including the top-8 countries of the 2019 IIHF Men’s World Ranking – Canada, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, USA, Germany, Switzerland – host China and three qualifiers that will be determined in the three Final Olympic Qualification tournaments from 27 to 30 August 2020.

The game schedule has already been approved by the stakeholders:

 

• Thursday, 27 August: Belarus vs. Poland (16:15), Austria vs. Slovakia (20:15)
• Friday, 28 August: Belarus vs.  Austria (16:15), Slovakia vs.  Poland (20:15)
• Sunday, 30 August: Poland vs.  Austria (16:15), Slovakia vs.  Belarus (20:15)

The other groups will be played at Arena Riga in Latvia and at a venue to be determined soon in Norway. Each group winner will qualify for Beijing 2022. The Olympic Qualification for women’s ice hockey will be played next season.

 

IIHF.COM

[hckošice 13,203]

Beijing 2022 Preliminary Groups

 

M Tournament

 

A-

B- + ( Lowest seeded Qualifier)

C- + ( Highest seeded Qualifier) + ( Second highest seeded Qualifier)

 

W Tournament

 

A-

B-  + ( Qualifier) + ( Qualifier) + ( Qualifier) +

[hckošice 13,203]

ROAD TO BEIJING 2022

 

Olympic Preliminary Round Groups set

after

IIHF World Rankings published

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The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has published the 2020 IIHF Men’s & Women’s World Rankings on Friday. The annual ranking is based on the results in the World Championships and Olympic Winter Games (including Olympic Qualification) of the last four years and the 2020 edition is used for the seeding of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

The 2020 rankings include points from the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship program in the men’s senior and women’s senior category. For tournaments that were not played due to the coronavirus pandemic, the points will be given according to the seeding position as foreseen in the IIHF Sport Regulations.

 

2020 IIHF Men’s World Ranking

Due to the lack of tournaments there has been few movements in the 54-country ranking. The top-10 remain the same and are led by Canada followed by Russia, Finland and Sweden.

Click here for the full ranking.

 

Quote

The new World Ranking also determines the seeding of the Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament in Beijing 2022:

Group A: Canada (1), USA (6), Germany (7), China (12).
Group B: Russia (2), Czech Republic (5), Switzerland (8), Qualifier 3 (11).
Group C: Finland (3), Sweden (4), Qualifier 1 (9), Qualifier 2 (10).

The Olympic Qualification for the men’s teams has already started in November 2019 and will end with the Final Olympic Qualification scheduled for 27-30 August 2020 in the following groups:
 

Group D:

Slovakia, Belarus, Austria, Poland.

In Bratislava, Slovakia.

Group E:

Latvia, France, Italy, Hungary.

In Riga, Latvia.

Group F:

Norway, Denmark, South Korea, Slovenia.

In Norway (city TBA).

 

 

 

2020 IIHF Women’s World Ranking

Quote

With only two tournaments played this season, the 2020 IIHF Women’s World Ranking also didn’t change much. The top-6 countries remained in the same order and will be the ones directly qualified for the Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament in Beijing 2022, which will be played in two tiered groups:

Group A: USA (1), Canada (2), Finland (3), Russia (4), Switzerland (5).
Group B: Japan (6), Qualifier 1 (7), Qualifier 2 (8), Qualifier 3 (9), China (10).

Click here for the full ranking.

The ranking will also determine the seeding for the women’s Olympic Qualification. The structure will depend on the number of national teams entered for Olympic women’s ice hockey.

The rights to host an Olympic Qualification group are given according to the seeding (World Ranking position), which means that the teams ranked 7th to 9th – Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden – would have the right to host their Final Olympic Qualification group. The planned dates are 11-14 February 2021.

More details on the Olympic Qualification in women’s ice hockey will be announced later once the teams are entered.
 

Note: The allocation of events for the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship program as well as the seedings, groups and hosts will be clarified by the next IIHF Congress and then be published on IIHF.com.

 

IIHF.COM

 

 

 

[orangeman 1,314]

After last Olympics, I'm a bit scared of Germany being in Canada's group.  The USA is a chief rival, and China is the host country.  Not exactly ideal for us.  Should obviously still make it to the quarters but a good chance Canada won't finish first in their group.  

[hckošice 13,203]

42 minutes ago, orangeman said:

After last Olympics, I'm a bit scared of Germany being in Canada's group.  The USA is a chief rival, and China is the host country.  Not exactly ideal for us.  Should obviously still make it to the quarters but a good chance Canada won't finish first in their group.  

 

Same format as 2010, 14 and 18, all teams are assured to play the play-offs (Group winners and best 2nd team will have a bye for the quarterfinals everyone else advance to the play-offs repechage), so even last team of a group can eventually still finish the tournament as medalist.