2022 Olympic Qualifying News

[filip85]

Croatia qualified for round 3. Good for them. Maybe Borna Rendulic will care enough to show up for round 3.

I think I really start getting interested in the OCQs at round 3 because that's the mid-minors, and then the final quali will be the mid-majors which will be absolutely no fun for me for different reasons.

DEL didn't have a break during this international break so it wasn't up to him. He is always there for NT.

 

[kabidjan18]

DEL didn't have a break during this international break so it wasn't up to him. He is always there for NT.

I was speaking in jest. It's sad to not see a whole lot happening on the Croatian scene though, so this is at least a positive development.

 

[filip85]

We don't have a winner from Barcelona group "Due to unplayable ice conditions at the end of the 1st period the game was stopped." Pretty farcical to say the least.

Game will be played on January 8th in Barcelona. Whole game, not just two periods that were left.

 

[ozo]

Game will be played on January 8th in Barcelona. Whole game, not just two periods that were left.

I wonder what roster will Netherlands will be able to ice in this game. In all likelihood this should increase the Spain's chances of an upset, no?

 

[MeHateHe]

I wonder what roster will Netherlands will be able to ice in this game. In all likelihood this should increase the Spain's chances of an upset, no?

Given that all but one of the players from the Dutch team play in the BeNe league and that league has no games between Jan. 5 and Jan. 10, I don’t think that should be a problem. The Spanish side has key players with clubs in France and Sweden.

 

[ozo]

Given that all but one of the players from the Dutch team play in the BeNe league and that league has no games between Jan. 5 and Jan. 10, I don’t think that should be a problem. The Spanish side has key players with clubs in France and Sweden.

Where do you get your info from The core of team Netherlands play in German third league and there is a huge difference in skill depending whether or not Tilburg players will be able to play or not.

 

[filip85]

I wonder what roster will Netherlands will be able to ice in this game. In all likelihood this should increase the Spain's chances of an upset, no?

Tilburg plays game on 5th january and then on 10th, so all players could/should be available.

 

[tony d]

Yeah, the Netherlands/Spain game will determine their group winner so the makeup game on January 8 will be important.

 

[ZT]

Official stream for tomorrow's game:

 

[ZT]

The Netherlands won (5:3). They're going to play in Group H, Croatia goes to Group G.

Olympic Pre-Qualification Round 3 (6-9 February 2020)

Group G: Slovenia, Japan, Lithuania, Croatia. In Jesenice, Slovenia.
Group H: Kazakhstan, Poland, Ukraine, Netherlands. In Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
Group J: Great Britain, Hungary, Estonia, Romania. In Nottingham, Great Britain.

 

[kabidjan18]

 

[Faterson]

That would be bad, with no NHL players participating.

 

[kabidjan18]

Objectively it is bad. It helps our chances though, from none to slim-to-none...so I'm not going to weep.

 

[Name Nameless]

The Netherlands won (5:3). They're going to play in Group H, Croatia goes to Group G.

Olympic Pre-Qualification Round 3 (6-9 February 2020)

Group G: Slovenia, Japan, Lithuania, Croatia. In Jesenice, Slovenia.
Group H: Kazakhstan, Poland, Ukraine, Netherlands. In Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
Group J: Great Britain, Hungary, Estonia, Romania. In Nottingham, Great Britain.

Seems this actually were played.
IIHF - Home 2020 MENS OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION PRELIMINARY ROUND 3, Group G Slovenia won group G
IIHF - Home 2020 MENS OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION PRELIMINARY ROUND 3, Group H Poland made it from group H
IIHF - Home 2020 MENS OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION PRELIMINARY ROUND 3, Group J Hungary made it from group J

 

[Name Nameless]

So the final Olympic Qualification groups are

(27-30 August 2020)
Group D: Slovakia, Belarus, Austria, Poland. In Bratislava, Slovakia.
Group E: Latvia, France, Italy, Hungary. In Riga, Latvia.
Group F: Norway, Denmark, Korea, Slovenia. In Norway (city TBA).

lifted from IIHF - Olympic

Don't know if those dates are still valid though.

 

[kabidjan18]

You got your wish.

 

[kabidjan18]

IIHF - Olympic qualifiers moved
A source you'll find more authoritative.

I think objectively this helps Slovakia the most. And it helps Austria slightly more than Belarus in the relative sense. Our talent wave came after theirs, so the more time we get for our wave to develop, naturally, the better.

Also, the second half is obviously stalling out older players. Slovakia wins big there. The new refurbished Slovakian lineup lacks players that make them world class, but none of their players are old.

 

[PanniniClaus]

This has to be the worst Slovakian team ever so certainly there is a punchers chance for Austria and Belarus if they can get a goaltender to step up.

 

[jaro]

I dont understand that decision cos german football bundesliga starts 16. May, this qualification should start 26. august. It is more than 3 months.

 

[mattihp]

This has to be the worst Slovakian team ever so certainly there is a punchers chance for Austria and Belarus if they can get a goaltender to step up.

It is not always the best collection of players that makes the best team, I remember in the last 10 years there was a pretty alright roster with Slovakia that almost got relegated and suffered blowouts to several of the big nations in the world champs. The right coach can work wonders as can the right preparations.

 

[PanniniClaus]

It is not always the best collection of players that makes the best team, I remember in the last 10 years there was a pretty alright roster with Slovakia that almost got relegated and suffered blowouts to several of the big nations in the world champs. The right coach can work wonders as can the right preparations.

Fair enough. The Finns know this well.

 

[mattihp]

Fair enough. The Finns know this well.

Two world champs with weak teams should say so

 

[Faterson]

This has to be the worst Slovakian team ever

The 1990s teams were pretty bad, too. Just a few exceptional players were saving the team's hide. Chára for today's team could be what Peter Šťastný was for the 1990s team – the difference maker, perhaps, between going to the Olympics or staying at home.

Even the upcoming generation of Slovak NHL stars of the 2000s wasn't enough to secure an Olympic spot for Slovakia in 1998. The first real international breakthrough for Slovakia was the bronze with juniors at the 1999 tourney (with Gáborík in the lineup), followed by silver for the A team in St. Petersburg in 2000, both under the same coach.

But 20 years later, we have come back full circle and Slovak hockey is today again where it was back in the 1990s, when it would be considered a success to make the World Championships quarterfinals. It took someone with Peter Šťastný's mindset to claim that Slovakia was good enough for a medal, but until they did it, nobody believed him and everyone thought he was just being nationalistic.

 

[PanniniClaus]

The 1990s teams were pretty bad, too. Just a few exceptional players were saving the team's hide. Chára for today's team could be what Peter Šťastný was for the 1990s team – the difference maker, perhaps, between going to the Olympics or staying at home.

Even the upcoming generation of Slovak NHL stars of the 2000s wasn't enough to secure an Olympic spot for Slovakia in 1998. The first real international breakthrough for Slovakia was the bronze with juniors at the 1999 tourney (with Gáborík in the lineup), followed by silver for the A team in St. Petersburg in 2000, both under the same coach.

But 20 years later, we have come back full circle and Slovak hockey is today again where it was back in the 1990s, when it would be considered a success to make the World Championships quarterfinals. It took someone with Peter Šťastný's mindset to claim that Slovakia was good enough for a medal, but until they did it, nobody believed him and everyone thought he was just being nationalistic.

Maybe so but that first team that appeared at the 96 World Cup was a decent hockey team. The 98 Olympic team was a shoe in for qualification without a few of their top players watching from the stands.

This current team has no stars at any position but if Chara and Halak can find it within them to participate they will still likely qualify. Cernak looks like he will be a good one.

 

[kabidjan18]

This has to be the worst Slovakian team ever so certainly there is a punchers chance for Austria and Belarus if they can get a goaltender to step up.

I think even a puncher's chance might be generous. None of us have the blue lines too compete. They have Cajkovsky, Cernak, Sekera, Jaros, Marincin, even Fehervary. They have 6 defensemen better than any of Austria's defensemen, and better than any of Belarus' defensemen except for maybe the naturalized Nick Bailen. I really don't know how you overcome that.

Forwards are slightly closer, in this respect Austria might be a bit ahead of Belarus, but it's still a distinct Slovak advantage.

Chara will not participate, that's a fantasy, Halak is unlikely. But really, they don't need to. It's still not very close. I think it's closer to a miracle on ice than it is to a puncher's chance.