Olympics: 2018 Winter Olympics Qualifying

[kaiser matias]

Group G, H, J will play in February 2016


Timeline of Qualification for the 2018 Winter Olympics:

Qualification Game (10 October 2015)
Bulgaria (35) vs. Georgia (36) in Sofia, Bulgaria. Bulgaria won 9-1

Olympic Qualification Preliminary Round 1 (5-8 November 2015)
Group K: Estonia (28), Mexico (31), Israel (32), Bulgaria (35). In Tallinn, Estonia. Estonia advanced
Group L: Serbia (29), Spain (30), Iceland (33), China (34). In Valdemoro, Spain. Serbia advanced

Olympic Qualification Preliminary Round 2 (11-14 February 2016)
Group G: Italy (18), Great Britain (23), Netherlands (24), Serbia (29). In Cortina, Italy.
Group H: Hungary (19), Poland (22), Lithuania (25), Estonia (28). In Budapest, Hungary.
Group J: Japan (20), Ukraine (21), Croatia (26), Romania (27). In Sapporo, Japan.

Final Olympic Qualification (1-4 September 2016)
Group D: Belarus (9), Slovenia (14), Denmark (15), Qualifier 6. In Belarus.
Group E: Latvia (10), Germany (13), Austria (16), Qualifier 5. In Latvia.
Group F: Norway (11), France (12), Kazakhstan (17), Qualifier 4. In Norway.

Olympic Winter Games, Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament (9-25 February 2018)
Group A: Canada (1), Czech Republic (6), Switzerland (7), Korea (12)
Group B: Russia (2), USA (5), Slovakia (8), Qualifier 3
Group C: Sweden (3), Finland (4), Qualifier 1, Qualifier 2

Click to read more...

 

[baronsforever]

I think that makes EDT 12:00. I hope Bulgaria lacking their three top scorers makes it an actual game. Better than 2010 when the Bulgarian women had to go through 4 awful games.

 

[kaiser matias]

I think that makes EDT 12:00. I hope Bulgaria lacking their three top scorers makes it an actual game. Better than 2010 when the Bulgarian women had to go through 4 awful games.

You're right, and I even spent more time than I wanted trying to figure it out just to still get it wrong.

Even without their better players Bulgaria is going to have no issue in this game. While there may not be any real hockey program left there, it is far more than anything Georgia has, and the Bulgarians did not just travel across Turkey (and Georgia at least twice, 6 hours from Tbilisi to Batumi on bad roads) on a bus. Its all for experience on the Georgian side, and a warmup for the Bulgarians for next month.

 

[TonyTinglebone]

Anyone know why Bulgaria and Georgia are playing to get into the qualification? They are ranked 39th and 45th, why don't the teams ahead of them get a shot?

 

[DrPabloRamirez]

Probably no interest to play in olympic qualification, they didn´t send application.
Bulgaria - Georgia 9:1 final result.

 

[kaiser matias]

Anyone know why Bulgaria and Georgia are playing to get into the qualification? They are ranked 39th and 45th, why don't the teams ahead of them get a shot?

Any team in the IIHF can apply to qualify for the Olympics. As these are the two lowest ranked teams they play the first match, and progressively better teams will play qualifying matches over the next year.

As noted Bulgaria won 9-1 over Georgia, and will now play in Estonia next month.

Bulgaria advances

 

[kulenova seka]

Any team in the IIHF can apply to qualify for the Olympics. As these are the two lowest ranked teams they play the first match, and progressively better teams will play qualifying matches over the next year.

As noted Bulgaria won 9-1 over Georgia, and will now play in Estonia next month.

Bulgaria advances

Official scoresheet anywhere ? IIHF doesn't have it (or at least I cant find it).

 

[tony d]

I always like learning about these different nations playing hockey, wouldn't it be quite a story if a nation like Spain or mexico made it to the Olympics?

 

[garbageteam]

I always like learning about these different nations playing hockey, wouldn't it be quite a story if a nation like Spain or mexico made it to the Olympics?

It would, but with 12 slots it just won't ever happen.

I have a keen interest in the qualification process though, reminds me of the long road nations take in the FIFA qualifications

 

[Tomas W]

I always like learning about these different nations playing hockey, wouldn't it be quite a story if a nation like Spain or mexico made it to the Olympics?

Yeah but they got 0 chance against the teams in the final qualification round. Sorry. You have to make do with Korea...

 

[kabidjan18]

Very convincing win for Bulgaria, they should be a team to watch out for. Definitely candidates to have the most fun this tournament. Next is a road trip up to Estonia, always a pretty and exciting destination.

 

[baronsforever]

Likely Estonia will win this round without difficulty, but the other tournament in Serbia should be a very balanced interesting competition. All four competitors (serbia, spain, iceland, and china) finished within 1 point of each other in last year's world championship.

 

[kulenova seka]

Likely Estonia will win this round without difficulty, but the other tournament in Serbia should be a very balanced interesting competition. All four competitors (serbia, spain, iceland, and china) finished within 1 point of each other in last year's world championship.

Spain will host it as Serbs declined, but they still will participate at tourney. Estonia will overrun it's opponents, while second group is wide open. Iceland, Serbia and Spain all have equal chances for promotion, while I admit I don't know much about China quality.

 

[GotTheMovesLikeJagr]

Official scoresheet anywhere ? IIHF doesn't have it (or at least I cant find it).

Official summary for the Bulgaria-Georgia match

Details of Pre-Qualification Group K can be found here, while details of Group L can be found here.

 

[kaiser matias]

Second round qualifying starts tomorrow, with two groups of four teams playing. The winner of each group will advance to the next tournament, scheduled for February. This round will last until November 8:


Group K
Estonia
Mexico
Israel
Bulgaria

Group L
Serbia
Spain
Iceland
China

 

[kaiser matias]

Last day for Group K and L, and not surprising at who's playing to advance.

In Group K Estonia and Mexico are up against each other. Estonia is my pick to win, not just because they have had no real competition in this tournament (their 26-0 against Bulgaria was 1 goal off their all-time record, 27-1 against South Africa in 1994), and they are a team that may actually be able to be competitive in the next round. This game starts at 15.00 UTC/10.00am EST

Group L will see Serbia and Spain in the deciding match. This one I think will be a little closer, but I'm inclined to give the slight edge to Serbia, even though I wouldn't be surprised if Spain wins it. Faceoff for this match is at 19.00UTC/2.00pm EST.

 

[koiott]

In Group K Estonia and Mexico are up against each other. Estonia is my pick to win, not just because they have had no real competition in this tournament (their 26-0 against Bulgaria was 1 goal off their all-time record, 27-1 against South Africa in 1994), and they are a team that may actually be able to be competitive in the next round.

Although Mexico got first goal of the game (shorthanded), Estonia won 13-3 . Robert Rooba was tournament scoring leader with 11+13 in 3 games.

 

[Wooren]

Estonia is tearing it up so far.

 

[kaiser matias]

As I expected, both Estonia and Serbia advanced to the next phase. Estonia had no trouble at this level, which they shouldn't have as some of their players are fairly good (Robert Rooba, the leading scorer, is in Liiga in Finland, and was at one point thought of someone who could have been a late-round draft pick). Serbia had a decent game against Spain, only scoring the winner in the last 5 minutes of the game after overcoming a two-goal deficit.

 

[kabidjan18]

*given: release of NA players*
Group D: Denmark
Group E: Germany
Group F: Norway

 

[OscarsCards]

It would be strange to watch Winter Olympic games hockey tournament without team Latvia. Group E with Latvia (10), Germany (13), Austria (16) and Japan (20) looks really tough, it's impossible to tell the qualifier from this group.

If team Latvia would be in the best strength and with home walls helping maybe Latvians could qualify. I wish for the best of course, but I'm full of doubt.

 

[snipes]

It would be strange to watch Winter Olympic games hockey tournament without team Latvia. Group E with Latvia (10), Germany (13), Austria (16) and Japan (20) looks really tough, it's impossible to tell the qualifier from this group.

If team Latvia would be in the best strength and with home walls helping maybe Latvians could qualify. I wish for the best of course, but I'm full of doubt.

I hope the Latvians are there. Pound for pound some of the best fans, those guys are hilarious at the WC. Seems to be a country that really loves their hockey.

 

[Urbanskog]

If team Latvia would be in the best strength and with home walls helping maybe Latvians could qualify. I wish for the best of course, but I'm full of doubt.

Germany would benefit significantly more from NHL participation though.

 

[Namejs]

Germany would benefit significantly more from NHL participation though.

Germany and Latvia would both benefit from AHL participation as well, though. It's not just about NHL guys.

Besides, Germany has a lot more depth when compared to Latvia. They can replace every 4th liner with a bunch of other guys without losing much in quality, while Latvia has a more limited amount of available replacements. We also have a severe lack of Cs, and two of our top 4 center forwards are currently based in NA. So every addition is worth more, relatively speaking.

Also, we don't know how many AHL/NHLers both teams are going to have next year. We might have 7 or 8 of them or we might have just a couple guys available. It's too early to tell if either of the teams would benefit more.

Another thing that you probably didn't know, is that there's a group of key Europe-based Latvian players that don't have any interest in playing in the World Champs. They might be interested in playing in the Olympics, though.

Currently, I'd say it's a toss-up between Germany and Latvia in that group, with Austria being the dark horse. 40:40:20:0 in probabilities, give or take.

 

[kabidjan18]

Germany and Latvia would both benefit from AHL participation as well, though. It's not just about NHL guys.

Besides, Germany has a lot more depth when compared to Latvia. They can replace every 4th liner with a bunch of other guys without losing much in quality, while Latvia has a more limited amount of available replacements. We also have a severe lack of Cs, and two of our top 4 center forwards are currently based in NA. So every addition is worth more, relatively speaking.

Also, we don't know how many AHL/NHLers both teams are going to have next year. We might have 7 or 8 of them or we might have just a couple guys available. It's too early to tell if either of the teams would benefit more.

Another thing that you probably didn't know, is that there's a group of key Europe-based Latvian players that don't have any interest in playing in the World Champs. They might be interested in playing in the Olympics, though.

Currently, I'd say it's a toss-up between Germany and Latvia in that group, with Austria being the dark horse. 40:40:20:0 in probabilities, give or take.

I feel like if Germany, Latvia, or Austria were in group F they'd be the favorites to win group F...

Germany has beaten Latvia in the last 3 WC matches, of course with both teams missing players...Germany also has missed intermittently some euros as well as the NA players...that's why I pick Germany, I'll go 40:35:25:0. Austria would also benefit from gaining normal NA and euro players they don't have.