2022 Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Updates after Group Play

Team: Games Played; Wins-Overtime Wins-Overtime Losses-Losses; Goals For-Goals Against; Goal Differential; Points

Group A:

1. USA: 3; 3-0-0-0; 15-4; +11; 9
2. Canada: 3; 2-0-0-1; 12-5; +7; 6
3. Germany: 3; 1-0-0-2; 6-10; -4; 3
4. PR China: 3; 0-0-0-3; 2-16; -14; 0

Round 1:

USA 8 PR China 0

Canada 5 Germany 1

Round 2:

Canada 2 USA 4

Germany 3 PR China 2

Round 3:

PR China 0 Canada 5

USA 3 Germany 2

Group B:

1. Russian Olympic Committee: 3; 2-0-1-0; 8-6; +2; 7
2. Denmark: 3: 2-0-0-1; 7-6; +1; 6
3. Czech Republic: 3; 0-2-0-1; 9-8; +1; 4
4. Switzerland: 3; 0-0-1-2; 4-8; -4; 1

Round 1:

Russian Olympic Committee 1 Switzerland 0

Czech Republic 1 Denmark 2

Round 2:

Denmark 0 Russian Olympic Committee 2

Czech Republic 2 (1-0 GWS) Switzerland 1

Round 3:

Russian Olympic Committee 5 Czech Republic 6 (0-1 OT)

Switzerland 3 Denmark 5

Group C:

1. Finland: 3; 2-1-0-0; 13-6; +7; 8
2. Sweden: 3; 2-0-1-0; 10-7; +3; 7
3. Slovakia: 3; 1-0-0-2; 8-12; -4; 3
4. Latvia: 3; 0-0-0-3; 5-11; -6; 0

Round 1:

Sweden 3 Latvia 2

Finland 6 Slovakia 2

Round 2:

Sweden 4 Slovakia 1

Latvia 1 Finland 3

Round 3:

Slovakia 5 Latvia 2

Finland 4 (1-0 OT) Sweden 3

Seedings for Knockout Rounds:

1. USA
2. Finland
3. Russian Olympic Committee
4. Sweden
5. Canada
6. Denmark
7. Czech Republic
8. Slovakia
9. Germany
10. Switzerland
11. Latvia
12. PR China

Bracket for the Knockout Rounds:

Analysis:

Group A:

Group A was a group which featured the unknown. PR China was playing with a lot of naturalized players, so their team they were playing with was new. Germany is very strange as sometimes they are really good, and other times they are really bad. With no NHL players playing like in 2018, Germany was expected to do better than they did in Group play. Canada had a lot more collegiate players than usual as they could not play their NHL stars. And, the USA had a lot of collegiate stars making a very youthful lineup, but one difficult to predict.

1. USA: USA is the best team so far at the 2022 Winter Olympics Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament. The USA has won every game, and this is with a very young lineup. Team USA is skilled, athletic, has lots of speed, plays with tons of physicality, and is often good with playing defense on the power play. The USA has two very capable goalies. However, the USA lacks finishing skills and power play for attacking. When on attack, the USA is not good with power plays or open nets. And, the USA is not great on defense, but has been bailed out by their goalies or off shots by their opponents. This will hurt the USA if they cannot figure this out! However, if the USA can keep a healthy rotation and keep up their youthfulness, strength, and speed, the USA should be able to beat any team on this list. The USA’s game against Germany showed that the collegiate players can play at a professional physicality level.
2. Canada: Canada now has their shooting back on track as the Canadians struggled to shoot successfully against the USA, but did a good job scoring 5 goals against both PR China and Germany. Canada lacks skating speed even though they have a lot of young players. Canada is not looking like their best version of their team, but Canadians are still a favorite as in the 2021 World Championship, Canada barely got out of their Group and then went onto win the World Championship.
3. Germany: The 2018 Silver Medalist seem poised to get their medal hopes back in contention with that close loss to the USA. While the score was deceiving because the USA had built up a 2 goal lead for some time, nonetheless, Germany kept the game within touching distance. Germany was very unimpressive against Canada. Germany suffered mediocrity towards the end against PR China, but still won. However, against the USA, Germany showed a complete game even if they did not win. That is good for Germany. Germany needs to do better on power plays from both offense and defense.
4. PR China: PR China is improving as they almost came back against Germany and played better against Canada than against the USA. While PR China may be the worst nation at the tournament, PR China is the host nation, and thus any opponent needs to precede with caution.

Group B:

Group B started off as the defensive Group, but the last game for each team featured lots of attack. Each team in Group B may be really good, or severely overrated. Why? Because Denmark is either playing very well or the nations around them are playing really bad. Denmark is supposed to be the second worst team at the Olympic Hockey tournament, but are currently playing like a Top 6 team.

1. Russian Olympic Committee: The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) were the pre-Tournament favorites to win the Gold Medal, but their lack of goal scoring and convincing performances put this into question across their first 2 games. Yet, they still won them, so they stayed favorites. However, their last game was a loss 5-6 which is quite unacceptable. The Russian Olympic Committee is still most likely the most talented, but they are no longer the favorite given their recent form.
2. Denmark: Denmark is playing way above the level they should be playing at. They have shown good defense in their first 2 games, as well as good attacking in their previous game. Denmark looks like a strong medal contender and could be the 2018 Germany in 2022, the unexpected really good national team.
3. Czech Republic: Czechia is having an interesting tournament. After losing to Denmark, the Czechs have now won a shootout with Switzerland and an overtime win with the Russian Olympic Committee. The Czech Republic has shown elite scoring and great defense. The Czech Republic is usually really good, and this 2022 team is battle-tested which is good for the knockout rounds. The Czechs are trending in the right direction at the right time.
4. Switzerland: Switzerland looks bad right now, having lost all 3 games. But, they have been close in each one, with their latest loss being their biggest loss this Olympics, and it was only a 2 goal loss. Switzerland has a talented team, but they need to put it together.

Group C:

Group C was a very top heavy Group as Finland and Sweden played very well each. Slovakia closed out the Group play strong, while Latvia played much better in their first 2 games.

1. Finland: Finland was the second favorite going into the Olympics and is still the second favorite, just behind another team. Finland played very well in their first 2 games of the Group, but against Sweden, they had a terrible second period, but in the third period, Finland were fantastic! Finland came back from 3 goals down to tie it and push the game into overtime, which Finland preceded to win in. Finland’s comeback shows the fight needed in an ice hockey team to win a Gold medal. Finland already possesses the skill and their previous match shows they possess the necessary mindset too.
2. Sweden: Sweden has played well since their close win over Latvia. Even though Sweden lost a 3 goal lead, the Swedes did it at a time that is good, and that is before the knockout rounds. Sweden still did good enough to get a bye to the Quarter-finals as the best second place team. Sweden is very good all-around.
3. Slovakia: Slovakia were manhandled by Finland and Sweden, but against Latvia, Slovakia was elite. Slovakia needs to get out of the habit of only playing well against lesser opposition, because in order to improve, you often need to do it against the best. Still, Slovakia is a strong contender to advance to the Quarter-finals.
4. Latvia: Latvia started off so well, being a close opponent to Sweden and Finland. Latvia seems to have the opposite habit of Slovakia and that is playing well against elite teams and playing worse against lesser opposition.

Playoffs Round (15 February):

Slovakia verse Germany:

Slovakia is the traditional hockey power in this matchup, but recently, Germany has been much better. Slovakia and Germany are both trending in the right direction. However, Germany has not been playing as good and Slovakia gets these types of wins. So, Slovakia should be the slight favorites by 1 goal.

Canada verse PR China:

It is very very difficult to play the same opponent back to back and expect to win both times. But, Canada is much better than PR China. PR China should not be counted out though as they are improving and are the host nation. Canada should get a comfortable win by 2+ goals.

Czech Republic verse Switzerland:

The Czech Republic are the slight favorites in this one because the Czechs are playing better and already beat the Swiss in shootouts, while the Swiss are playing worse. The Czech Republic should be favorites by 1 goal.

Denmark verse Latvia:

Denmark is playing at a very elite level right now, while Latvia has at times been able to compete with those at an elite level. But, Denmark has won some of these games, while Latvia has not. Denmark is trending up while Latvia is trending down. Denmark should win by 2+ goals.

Favorites for the Gold Medal:

1. USA
2. Finland
3. Sweden
4. Russian Olympic Committee
5. Canada
6. Czech Republic
7. Switzerland
8. Denmark
9. Germany
10. Slovakia
11. Latvia
12. PR China