Last Friday, the NHL and the NHLPA agreed to a deal to allow NHL players to represent their countries in the 2014 Winter Olympics that are being held in Sochi, Russia. The NHL will pause play from February 9th to February 25th. The participating countries in the men’s ice hockey competition are Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and United States. The teams are separated into three pools (A, B, and C).
via sportsfeatures.com
Pool A:
- Russia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- United States
Pool B:
- Austria
- Canada
- Finland
- Norway
Pool C:
- Czech Republic
- Latvia
- Sweden
- Switzerland
I remember when these groups were announced a few months ago and I immediately felt that the United States’ group was going to be this tournament’s group of death. I also immediately felt that Canada got a breeze of a group. Both Pool’s A and C have three good teams whereas Pool B only has two good teams. The Russian team is going to have some high expectations and be under some close scrutiny. Meanwhile, Slovakia is always a tough team to beat and include some big names in Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik and Zdeno Chara. This is the first time Slovenia has appeared in the Olympic ice hockey tournament. However, they do have Anze Kopitar. I fully expect the US to make it out of their pool.
Here is the ice hockey tournament schedule for the 2014 Winter Olympics:
| Men’s Preliminary Round Schedule | ||
| WED, FEB 12 | ||
| 1 | 12:00 PM ET | Czech Republic vs. Sweden |
| 2 | 12:00 PM ET | Latvia vs. Switzerland |
| THU, FEB 13 | ||
| 3 | 3:00 AM ET | Finland vs. Austria |
| 4 | 7:30 AM ET | Russia vs. Slovenia |
| 5 | 7:30 AM ET | Slovakia vs. United States |
| 6 | 12:00 PM ET | Canada vs. Norway |
| FRI, FEB 14 | ||
| 7 | 3:00 AM ET | Czech Republic vs. Latvia |
| 8 | 7:30 AM ET | Sweden vs. Switzerland |
| 9 | 12:00 PM ET | Canada vs. Austria |
| 10 | 12:00 PM ET | Norway vs. Finland |
| SAT, FEB 15 | ||
| 11 | 3:00 AM ET | Slovakia vs. Slovenia |
| 12 | 7:30 AM ET | United States vs. Russia |
| 13 | 12:00 PM ET | Switzerland vs. Czech Republic |
| 14 | 12:00 PM ET | Sweden vs. Latvia |
| SUN, FEB 16 | ||
| 15 | 3:00 AM ET | Austria vs. Norway |
| 16 | 7:30 AM ET | Russia vs. Slovakia |
| 17 | 7:30 AM ET | Slovenia vs. United States |
| 18 | 12:00 PM ET | Finland vs. Canada |
| Qualification play-off – TUE, FEB 18 | ||
| 19 | 3:00 AM ET | TBD |
| 20 | 7:30 AM ET | TBD |
| 21 | 12:00 PM ET | TBD |
| 22 | 12:00 PM ET | TBD |
| Quarterfinals – WED, FEB 19 | ||
| 23 | 3:00 AM ET | TBD |
| 24 | 7:30 AM ET | TBD |
| 25 | 12:00 PM ET | TBD |
| 26 | 12:00 PM ET | TBD |
| Semifinals – FRI, FEB 21 | ||
| 27 | 7:00 AM ET | TBD |
| 28 | 12:00 PM ET | TBD |
| Bronze Medal Game – SAT, FEB 22 | ||
| 29 | 10:00 AM ET | TBD |
| Gold Medal Game – SUN, FEB 23 | ||
| 30 | 7:00 AM ET | TBD |
The Olympics are the greatest part of a year. I look forward to them more than anything else every other year. NHL.com is currently doing a series on predicting some of the more major hockey nations’ roster for the upcoming Olympics and once they finish, I will make a post on here summarizing what they said and I’ll put in my two cents if I disagree with anything.
Possible Anaheim Ducks to appear in 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics:
- Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry for Team Canada
- Saku Koivu, Teemu Selanne and Sami Vatanen for Team Finland
- Jakob Silfverberg and Viktor Fasth for Team Sweden
- Luca Sbisa and Jonas Hiller for Team Switzerland
Bobby Ryan for Team USA
Thanks for reading! Any questions? Contact us! Or follow us on twitter @PucksofaFeather! We’re back on Facebook, so like us!
Follow me on twitter @ducks_sean! Follow our Lead Editor on twitter @thekrishill! Follow my fellow Staff Writers on twitter @bauerhockeydude and @CamLanier!