Olympic Hockey Preview

While there may never again be another story quite like the famed run by Team USA in the 1980 Winter Olympic hockey tournament in Lake Placid, N.Y., the hockey venue always is one that brings great excitement.

This year marks the first time in two decades that the tournament will not feature current players from the National Hockey League. That’s brought mixed reviews as to whether it’s better or worse for the event.

Obviously, the overall level of play won’t be the same. Taking the most talented players in the world away makes that pretty easy to figure.

But now, you get teams of hungry players truly representing the country on the front of their sweater, looking to make a name for themselves and trying to exhibit the same passion our boys did in their amazing run in 1980.

Here’s a preview of this year’s hockey tournaments.

The Women

Eight teams will vie for gold in the sixth edition of the women’s hockey tournament at the Games.

The Favorites

Team USA and Canada historically are at the top of the women’s game, and this year is no exception. The U.S. won the inaugural Gold Medal 20 years ago in Nagano. Since, it’s been all Canada, as the Canadians have won four straight Golds and 20 straight games overall, including an overtime thriller against the Americans four years ago in the title game.

Finland, the third-ranked team in the world, figures to be a strong challenger for the Bronze Medal but will have a tough time getting by the two favorites.

The Next Level

It’ll be a tall order for the likes of Russia or Sweden to find their way to the medal stand, but each has experience on the Olympic stage. Same goes for Switzerland and Japan, who has been surprisingly good in the sport since its Olympic inception at the Nagano games in their home country.

The Longshot/Best Story

I wouldn’t have an idea how many total hockey rinks you’ll find in Korea, but one of the great stories of these games comes from the unified effort of athletes from South Korea and North Korea as they field a team together in this tournament.

Their chances of even being competitive, much less winning a game, are awfully slim. However, it’s cool to see these ladies go beyond politics to compete together on the big stage.

The Men

Three four-team groups will play off in round-robin action, with all 12 advancing into bracket play based on record, goal differential and potentially other tiebreakers. From there, it’s all single elimination.

Group A

Canada, Czech Republic, South Korea, Switzerland

The Canadians and Czechs are heavy favorites to top this group, with the hosts facing the same challenge of their female counterparts. The Swiss have a little more talent than the Koreans but still will have their handful against two countries that have won four of the previous five Gold Medals in hockey. Their preliminary round game Feb. 16 will be big.

Group B

Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Team USA

The Russians, despite having to officially compete as the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” due to sanctions against the Russian Olympic Federation for violations, may be the team to beat in this tournament. Much of their team are professionals, coming from the KHL in their country, including a pair of guys with a lot of NHL experience in Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Team USA features a number of minor league pros and collegians, and they’ll have to be ready not just for Russia, but squads from Slovakia and Slovenia that have much more hope with the NHL players staying home.

Group C

Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden

The Germans will have their hands full against an otherwise all Scandinavian group that will bring one rivalry game after another. The Finns are one of the smoothest passing teams in the world year in and year out, while the Swedes consistently bring good size and talent and quite a few players from their country’s pro league. The top teams from this group could be big players to win the tournanent.

Schedule

We’ll update with coverage throughout the tournament. Here’s the full schedule of games. (Hint: Your DVR is going to be helpful, as the majority of the games will be late night/early morning as they’re played on the other side of the world.)

NBC Sports Network, CNBC and USA Network will be the main stations to tune in for hockey action. Times listed below are Central Standard Time.

WOMEN

Feb. 10
1:40 a.m. – Japan vs Sweden
6:10 a.m. – Switzerland vs N/S Korea

Feb. 11
1:40 a.m. – USA vs Finland
6:10 a.m. – Canada vs Russia

Feb. 12
1:40 a.m. – Switzerland vs Japan
6:10 a.m. – Sweden vs N/S Korea

Feb. 13
1:40 a.m. – Canada vs Finland
6:10 a.m. – USA vs Russia
9:10 p.m. – Sweden vs Switzerland

Feb. 14
1:40 a.m. – Japan vs N/S Korea
9:10 p.m. – USA vs Canada

Feb. 15
1:40 a.m. – Russia vs Finland

Feb. 16
9:10 p.m. – Quarterfinal

Feb. 17
1:40 a.m. – Quarterfinal
9:10 p.m. – Classification game (5-8)

Feb. 18
1:40 a.m. – Classification game (5-8)
10:10 p.m. – Semifinal

Feb. 19
6:10 a.m. – Semifinal
9:10 p.m. – 7th place game

Feb. 20
1:40 a.m. – 5th place game

Feb. 21
1:40 a.m. – Bronze Medal Game
10:10 p.m. – Gold Medal Game

MEN

Feb. 14
6:10 a.m. – Slovakia vs Russia
6:10 a.m. – USA vs Slovenia
9:10 p.m. – Finland vs Germany

Feb. 15
1:40 a.m. – Sweden vs Norway
6:10 a.m. – Czech Republic vs South Korea
6:10 a.m. – Canada vs Switzerland
9:10 p.m. – USA vs Slovakia

Feb. 16
1:40 a.m. – Russia vs Slovenia
6:10 a.m. – Finland vs Norway
6:10 a.m. – Sweden vs Germany
9:10 p.m. – Canada vs Czech Republic

Feb. 17
1:40 a.m. – Switzerland vs South Korea
6:10 a.m. – USA vs Russia
6:10 a.m. – Slovenia vs Slovakia
9:10 p.m. – Germany vs Norway

Feb. 18
1:40 a.m. – Czech Republic vs Switzerland
6:10 a.m. – Canada vs South Korea
6:10 a.m. – Sweden vs Finland

Feb. 19
9:10 p.m. – First round playoff

Feb. 20
1:40 a.m. – First round playoff
6:10 a.m. – First round playoff
6:10 a.m. – First round playoff
9:10 p.m. – Quarterfinal

Feb. 21
1:40 a.m. – Quarterfinal
6:10 a.m. – Quarterfinal
6:10 a.m. – Quarterfinal

Feb. 23
1:40 a.m. – Semifinal
6:10 a.m. – Semifinal

Feb. 24
6:10 a.m. – Bronze Medal Game
10:10 p.m. – Gold Medal Game

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