Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics explained

Event:Ice hockey
Games:2022 Winter
Venues:Beijing National Indoor Stadium
Wukesong Arena
Dates:3–20 February
Competitors:530
Nations:13
Num Events:2 (1 men and 1 women)
Prev:2018
Next:2026

The ice hockey competitions of the 2022 Winter Olympics were played at two venues located in the Beijing cluster: the Beijing National Indoor Stadium, which seats 18,000, located at the Olympic Green area, and the Wukesong Arena, seating 10,000, with both arenas having been constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The men's tournament had 12 teams competing, and the women's tournament 10 for the first time (an increase of two from 2018).[1] [2] Two events were contested, one each for men and women.[3]

Medal summary

Medalists

Men's

Miro Aaltonen
Marko Anttila
Hannes Björninen
Valtteri Filppula
Niklas Friman
Markus Granlund
Teemu Hartikainen
Juuso Hietanen
Valtteri Kemiläinen
Leo Komarov
Mikko Lehtonen
Petteri Lindbohm
Saku Mäenalanen
Sakari Manninen
Joonas Nättinen
Atte Ohtamaa
Niko Ojamäki
Juho Olkinuora
Iiro Pakarinen
Harri Pesonen
Ville Pokka
Toni Rajala
Harri Säteri
Frans Tuohimaa
Sami Vatanen

Sergei Andronov
Timur Bilyalov
Andrei Chibisov
Ivan Fedotov
Stanislav Galiev
Mikhail Grigorenko
Arseni Gritsyuk
Nikita Gusev
Pavel Karnaukhov
Artur Kayumov
Artyom Minulin
Nikita Nesterov
Alexander Nikishin
Sergei Plotnikov
Alexander Samonov
Kirill Semyonov
Damir Sharipzyanov
Vadim Shipachyov
Anton Slepyshev
Sergei Telegin
Vladimir Tkachyov
Dmitri Voronkov
Slava Voynov
Egor Yakovlev
Alexander Yelesin

Peter Cehlárik
Michal Čajkovský
Peter Čerešňák
Marek Ďaloga
Marko Daňo
Martin Gernát
Adrián Holešinský
Marek Hrivík
Libor Hudáček
Tomáš Jurčo
Miloš Kelemen
Samuel Kňažko
Branislav Konrád
Michal Krištof
Martin Marinčin
Šimon Nemec
Kristián Pospíšil
Pavol Regenda
Miloš Roman
Mislav Rosandić
Patrik Rybár
Juraj Slafkovský
Samuel Takáč
Matej Tomek
Peter Zuzin
Women's

Erin Ambrose
Ashton Bell
Kristen Campbell
Emily Clark
Mélodie Daoust
Ann-Renée Desbiens
Renata Fast
Sarah Fillier
Brianne Jenner
Rebecca Johnston
Jocelyne Larocque
Emma Maltais
Emerance Maschmeyer
Sarah Nurse
Marie-Philip Poulin
Jamie Lee Rattray
Jill Saulnier
Ella Shelton
Natalie Spooner
Laura Stacey
Claire Thompson
Blayre Turnbull
Micah Zandee-Hart

Cayla Barnes
Megan Bozek
Hannah Brandt
Dani Cameranesi
Alex Carpenter
Alex Cavallini
Jesse Compher
Kendall Coyne Schofield
Brianna Decker
Jincy Roese
Savannah Harmon
Caroline Harvey
Nicole Hensley
Megan Keller
Amanda Kessel
Hilary Knight
Abbey Murphy
Kelly Pannek
Maddie Rooney
Abby Roque
Hayley Scamurra
Lee Stecklein
Grace Zumwinkle

Sanni Hakala
Jenni Hiirikoski
Elisa Holopainen
Sini Karjalainen
Michelle Karvinen
Anni Keisala
Nelli Laitinen
Julia Liikala
Eveliina Mäkinen
Petra Nieminen
Tanja Niskanen
Jenniina Nylund
Meeri Räisänen
Sanni Rantala
Ronja Savolainen
Sofianna Sundelin
Susanna Tapani
Noora Tulus
Minttu Tuominen
Viivi Vainikka
Sanni Vanhanen
Emilia Vesa
Ella Viitasuo

Competition schedule

PRPreliminary roundPOPlayoffsQFQuarter-finals SFSemi-finals BBronze-medal matchGGold-medal match
Thu 3 Fri 4 Sat 5 Sun 6 Mon 7 Tue 8 Wed 9 Thu 10 Fri 11 Sat 12 Sun 13 Mon 14 Tue 15 Wed 16 Thu 17 Fri 18 Sat 19 Sun 20
PR PRPR PR PR PO QF SF B G
PR PR PR PR PR PR QF QF SF B G

Men's tournament

See main article: Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament. The tournament featured twelve countries, eight qualifying through the IIHF World Ranking, the host China, and three through qualifying tournaments. The format remained the same as the previous three Olympics; three groups of four compete in three games to determine seeding, each played every other team in their group, followed by four rounds of elimination games. Each group winner received a bye into the second round, along with the highest ranked of the remaining teams. The remaining eight teams played an eliminating qualification game to advance to the quarter-final round. Each quarter-final winner advanced to the semi-finals with the winners playing for the gold medal and the losers playing for the bronze. With the cancellation of the 2020 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships, the groups were established on 24 April 2020, using the IIHF world rankings where seeding counted for the ranking points in unplayed tournaments.[4] [5] [6]

On 10 July 2020, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) and National Hockey League agreed to a renewed collective bargaining agreement, which includes a provision opening the possibility for the NHL to explore participation at the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics.[7] On 22 July 2021, the NHL released a 2021–22 schedule that included an Olympic break, but the league also announced that a final agreement had not yet been reached regarding Olympic participation of NHL players in 2022.[8] On 3 September 2021, an agreement was made to allow NHL players to compete.[9]

On 22 December 2021, the NHL and the NHLPA announced that NHL players would not be participating in the men's ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Games. COVID-19 has forced a change in the NHL schedule. With approximately 50 games postponed, the NHL was to use the Olympic break to make up its own postponed games rather than have the players compete in the Olympics.[10]

Qualification

See main article: Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Men's qualification. Qualification for the men's tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2019 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. The top eight joined the hosts and three qualifiers.

Participating nations

The groups were established on 24 April 2020 in absence of a World Championship. Qualifiers one, two, and three, were the winners of the final qualification tournaments. Their designation was determined by their qualification seeding.[6]

Due to the lack of ice hockey talent in China, players had to be recruited from abroad. The men's hockey team had eleven Canadians, nine Chinese, three Americans, and a Russian.[11]

Women's tournament

See main article: Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Women's tournament. For the first time ten countries competed in the women's tournament, six qualifying through the IIHF World Ranking, the host China, and three through qualifying tournaments held in November 2021.[12] The qualification groups and schedule will be established at the 2020 IIHF Annual Congress.

Qualification

See main article: Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Women's qualification. Qualification for the women's tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics were supposed to be determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2020 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships, but they were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The top six ranked nations were established by using their seeding for ranking points in unplayed tournaments in 2020.

Participating nations

Qualifiers Czech Republic, Denmark, and Sweden, were the winners of the final qualification tournaments. Their designation was determined by their qualification seeding.

Qualification summary / Participating NOC's

NationsMenWomenAthletes
48
48
48
48
48
25
23
25
48
25
48
48
48
Total: 13 NOCs 1210530

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Spencer. Donna. 19 February 2018. Olympic women's hockey tournament to expand to 10 teams in 2022. Canadian Press. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 14 November 2021.
  2. Web site: Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 Event programme and athlete quota. www.olympic.org/. International Olympic Committee (IOC). 5 September 2021.
  3. Web site: Official Programme of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. www.olympic.org/. International Olympic Committee (IOC). 13 February 2022.
  4. Web site: IIHF approves qualification criteria for Beijing 2022 men's ice hockey tournament. 30 May 2019 . insidethegames.biz . 25 August 2019.
  5. Web site: Road to Olympics set. IIHF.com . 25 August 2019.
  6. News: IIHF World Rankings published. IIHF. 24 April 2020. 24 April 2020.
  7. Web site: NHL, NHLPA ratify CBA extension through 2025–26 season. 11 July 2020. National Hockey League. en-US.
  8. Web site: NHL announces 2021-22 regular-season schedule . NHL.com . 7 August 2021.
  9. Web site: NHL players are back. IIHF.com . 3 September 2021.
  10. News: Martin . Jill . Beijing Winter Olympics: NHL players won't participate in 2022 Games . . 22 December 2021 . 22 December 2021 .
  11. Web site: Olsvik . Justin . China Recruited Canadians to Avoid Embarrassment on the Olympic Ice . thediplomat.com . The Diplomat . 4 February 2022.
  12. Web site: Race to Olympics for women starts soon. IIHF.com . 16 February 2020.