4:51 pm - 02/14/2013
2014 Sochi Olympics Hockey Groupings Announced
The excitement for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi (Russia) is already starting to build. On Tuesday, the groups for the men's ice hockey competition were unveiled.
Here are the three groups, according to the IIHF:
Seeding:
Group A: Russia (1), Slovakia (6), USA (7), Slovenia (18)
Group B: Finland (2), Canada (5), Norway (8), Austria (15)
Group C: Czech Republic (3), Sweden (4), Switzerland (9), Latvia (11)
The format will be the same as in Vancouver 2010. The four teams with the best records (the group winners and the second-place team with the best record) advance to the quarter-finals, the remaining eight teams will play a qualification game.
At first glance, it seems like the most competitive batch of teams will be Group A. Russia, the United States and Slovakia are all capable of finishing in first place in that group to reach the quarterfinals. Russia will be under a lot of pressure to start well and earn a place in the medal round in front of their home fans.
The defending gold medal winners from Canada are in the easiest group, and the only team they will have to worry about is Finland. Sweden will be the favorite to win Group C, and the Czech Republic should not have too much trouble finishing in the top two for an opportunity to reach the medal round.
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Here are the three groups, according to the IIHF:
Seeding:
Group A: Russia (1), Slovakia (6), USA (7), Slovenia (18)
Group B: Finland (2), Canada (5), Norway (8), Austria (15)
Group C: Czech Republic (3), Sweden (4), Switzerland (9), Latvia (11)
The format will be the same as in Vancouver 2010. The four teams with the best records (the group winners and the second-place team with the best record) advance to the quarter-finals, the remaining eight teams will play a qualification game.
At first glance, it seems like the most competitive batch of teams will be Group A. Russia, the United States and Slovakia are all capable of finishing in first place in that group to reach the quarterfinals. Russia will be under a lot of pressure to start well and earn a place in the medal round in front of their home fans.
The defending gold medal winners from Canada are in the easiest group, and the only team they will have to worry about is Finland. Sweden will be the favorite to win Group C, and the Czech Republic should not have too much trouble finishing in the top two for an opportunity to reach the medal round.
source
this post was brought to you by the sexy & multitalented King:
Edit: Forgot this
Edited at 2013-02-14 05:12 pm (UTC)
lol, dethroned, us? pffft. as if.
go blackhawks
Here's hoping for another fairy tale ending for my boys!
(But really, I'm just looking forward to some great hockey. It's going to be a huge battle between Russia, Sweden, USA, and Canada for the top three spots.)
Edited at 2013-02-14 05:03 pm (UTC)
greatest game you can name! <3
Russia is going to have a lot of pressure on their backs.
it's going to depend on their players, and a better indicator would probably be next season. geno had a good streak in the khl during the lockout but he's a little slow-going getting used to nhl ice/play style again. and then hockey in sochi will probably be played on big ice again so he'll have to get used to that again too but if he gets paired with kulemin and mozyakin hopefully it will be magical. and then ovie has to get used to his new coach.
Their hockey team's really going to have to work for it, and hell, even look at their figure skaters. There were years when they swept the podium in every event but now they have 3 good pairs teams and that's about it.
I'm definitely interested in seeing who Russia names to their hockey team though! It should be a good match up depending on who Canada & the US name.
I just want Ryan Callahan to make Team USA, okay... he's a badass player and Captain... and he's physical enough to knock the shit out of people. Also Ryan McDonagh can come along too
also i can't wait to watch sid and giroux pretend to like each other for the sake of canada lol. it's going to be so fun.
Edited at 2013-02-14 05:16 pm (UTC)
kulemin-malkin-mozyakin will be great to see again but the nhl players will all have to get used to the big ice again.
(more excited for figure skating than hockey tbh but I reallly hope Cory Schneider gets to be on team USA
fuck yeah
they're been owning competitions left and right this season
bless.
Edited at 2013-02-14 05:33 pm (UTC)
and lbr, Jaro looks a million times better without that damn mullet.
i wish i still had my jagr ~geocities page