IIHF Release Groups for Sochi 2014 Olympic Hockey Tournament

With the completion of the 2012 IIHF World Championships in Finland and Sweden on Sunday, the IIHF didn’t hesitate to release a portion on their groups for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

The format for the Men’s Hockey Tournament will be the same format they used in the 2010 games in Vancouver. There will be twelve teams competing in three groups of four. Every team will make the playoffs where they will be seeded 1 through 12. The winner of each group along with the team with the best second place finish will go directly through to the Quarter Finals.

Here are the groups as follows:

Group A                                Group B                        Group C

Russia                                    Finland                          Czech Republic

Slovakia                                 Canada                       Sweden

United States                        Norway                        Switzerland

(Projected Germany)        ( Projected Latvia)       (Projected Demark)

At first glance, it may seem like Canada has an easy group. While that might be true, I wouldn’t say that there going to run the table just yet. In 1998 Nagano and 2006 in Torino, Canada failed to pick up a medal. Both those years were the only times NHL players participated at the Olympics with the wider European ice surface. For Canada to pick up a medal in 2014 they will have to beat a very strong team or two regardless if they have an easy group or not.

In 1998, Canada won their first four games of the tournament outscoring their opposition 16-4. Despite their early dominance, Canada lost a heartbreaker in the Semi Final and a heartbreaker in the Bronze medal game to Finland.

In 2006, Canada struggled to score goals the whole tournament. The Canadians were upset by the mighty Swiss 2-0 in their third game of the tournament.. That upset forced them in a tough Quarter Final game with Russia. Canada and Russia traded chances traded chances the whole game. With 8:30 to go in the game, Alex Ovechkin scored the eventual winning goal on the power play to give Russia the lead. I remember that day watching the game at school. I really never had a good feeling about that game the entire game.

When Canada goes to Russia in 2014 to defend their gold medal. Canada will have hopes of winning another medal. Even though we are a long ways away, the standard will remain the same. Therefore, if Canada is to get at least a bronze they will have to win four or five games. In other words, with Canada not living up to expectations in past Olympics overseas, don’t expect anything to come easy for the Canadians this time around.

It is unclear whether the NHL players will participate in the upcoming Olympics. However, the NHLPA feels quite confident that they’ll be able to get a deal done so that NHL players can continue competing in the Olympics.

As the Winter Olympics nears, I will go in depth with these groups from a global perspective. As of now, Furthermore, I’ll explain why the way the Olympics choses its groups is flawed and needs to change.