The Need to Knows
- What is it?: The highest level of hockey possible being played in Milan and Cortina, Italy!
- When is it?: Times are listed here: The Women’s Tournament is currently ongoing, and the Men’s tournament begins on February 11th.
- Where is it?: Arena Milano in Milan, and Fiera Milano Rho, also in Milan.
- What are the stakes?: The Gold Medal, baby.
- Why should I care?: NHL PLAYERS ARE AT THE OLYMPICS AGAIN AND YOU’RE ASKING WHY YOU SHOULD CARE?!
- But I think the Stanley Cup is the most important tro-
- Okay, so I’m just gonna level with you. The Stanley Cup is pretty hard to win and it is a very important trophy in this game. But I’ll just paraphrase something I wrote years ago here: someone wins the Cup every year. You don’t get to go to the Olympics every year. That means something a little more than the annual sports trophy. I’m sorry it doesn’t mean that to you, but it does to these players. Go ask Team Canada what individual hockey play inspired them to try and become NHL players, and I’ll bet you it’s almost always going to be the same one. This one. If it’s Team USA, it’s either this one if you’re older or this one if you’re younger. If it’s the ladies, then it’s probably this one. This means something to these guys and girls.
- Isn’t the ice surface all weird?: Kinda. By all accounts it was finished very recently and will be slightly shorter than even an NHL rink. The women have played games without incident, however!
- Shouldn’t this have been finished like, years ago?: Sure! But Italy is sort of known for having…let’s call it a mediterranean attitude towards timed events. There are so many more important things to an Italian citizen than having something done on time. Just ask Scuderia Ferrari fans how much fun watching their pit crew is! All that work gets in the way of their true passions, like Coffee! and Smoking!
Bruins and Fleet playing in this Tournament
Boston Bruins
- David Pastrnak, Czechia – Forward
- Pavel Zacha, Czechia – Forward (Injured)
- Elias Lindholm, Sweden – Forward
- Charlie McAvoy, USA – Defenseman
- Henri Jokiharju, Finland – Defenseman
- Joonas Korpisalo, Finland – Goaltender
- Jeremy Swayman, USA – Goaltender
Boston Fleet
- Aerin Frankel, USA – Goaltending
- Megan Keller, USA – Defensewoman
- Haley Winn, USA – Forward
- Alina Muller, Switzerland – Forward
- Susanna Tapani, Finland – Forward
- Laura Kluge, Germany – Forward
- Daniela Pejšová, Czechia – Forward
Men’s Tournament Preview
Group A – True North Rising
1. Canada
- Roster: here
- Strengths: Overwhelming offensive talent. Three of the best players in the world could theoretically play on the same line, Coaching is perfectly set for the team they want to play.
- Weaknesses: Goaltending, with the major caveat of Jordan Binnington does unfortunately rise to meet the occasion more often than he doesn’t.
With the roster Canada has, I genuinely cannot imagine them struggling to make a medal game.
I couldn’t even conceive of the scenario that would make that possible. They’re just all too close to the arena.
Unlike previous tournaments, where Canada’s embarrassment of riches being hoarded by the NHL meant that they had to depend on uninspiring rosters to keep their position of #1 in the world, this is by far the most talented roster Canada has put in front of the Olympic rings in years. The forward corps is unreal, the defense is perfectly designed to get that puck the hell out of dodge and back to the moneymakers, the people coaching them are geared towards rewarding that skill and motivating them to be their best selves by hook or by crook. Also, Pete DeBoer is there!
Even injury, which
has been unkind to them, will not stop this team. Brayden Point being out sucks, but depending on who they name to fill that role, which could be a number of players, who cares? This roster is stacked to the gills with talent! This is about as airtight a team as you can get, even with the flaws they
do have.
Which, they
do have. It just happens to be in net.
Logan Thompson is
probably going to be the starter if they’re smart, because the other options are not looking great for Canada; Darcy Kuemper has a pedigree but he’s nursing a .902 SV%, and Binnington? Trash. All around trash. Just awful.
…With an asterisk.
Binnington, unfortunately, when the chips are down…is very good. When the lights shine brightest, unfortunately he tends to find gears two through six. It is a maddening trait of one of the most annoying players in the NHL.
But you have to get there first. That won’t be super difficult for this team, it’s built to conquer the planet.
But you will have to get there first.
If Thompson’s on a heater, do you really, and I mean
really…want to risk it because “he knows how to win?”
Remember Canada; we’re trying to get you back on that #1 spot here. You want to be there badly, maybe more than you want anything else in life. More than working transit in Toronto/Toronto burning to the ground. More than a Stanley Cup just coming to visit with a player.
Do you really wanna risk it? Because this is The Stage of history.
Don’t let old narratives get to you. Shoot to kill.
2. Czechia
- Roster: Here
- Strengths: High-end scoring talent, dynamic offense system, goaltenders can steal a game if they need to, major bone to pick with previous results at the Olympics
- Weaknesses: Team is on the older side, Defense is looking a little shaky
As a self-professed Czechia and Bruins fan, it stings that I have to watch a variant of this team that no longer carries a David Krejci, but I understand that time must move only forward.
But that’s no real big deal, because Czechia looks like it’s ready to wipe the bitter taste of 2022 out of people’s mouths. David Pastrnak picking up playmaking duties came at the perfect time, because they’ve got Martin Necas, Tomas Hertl, Radek Faksa, Ondrej Kase, Lukas Sedlak, and Old Man Czechia Roman Cervenka, all of whom have been major contributors throughout the NHL in the past and present, and are absolutely tearing up the Czech Extraliga; especially if they’re playing with Pardubice. Their goaltending, while maybe not lighting the world up with NHL SV%s that are formidable, are all guys with the ability to rise to the occasion of a 40+ save game and keep the door closed enough for the win.
That’s gonna come in handy, because Czechia’s a lot of things, but young ain’t one of them. David Spacek and Jiri Tichachek are the youngest players on Czechia’s roster by a considerable margin, and Pasta and Necas are the youngest forwards at 29 and 27 respectively. While the experience in the room is invaluable, especially since so many of them have played together at the World Championships, one wonders how they’re going to handle Canada among a host of other teams that opted for youth in the knockout round.
I don’t think they’re in any danger of not making the knockouts, I’m just concerned that they might run headfirst into a team that can beat them on back-end speed and that might come up as a real problem. Further, while their goaltending can carry a game if it needs to, Dostal, Vejmelka, and Vladar are all just as likely to sink a game with some shaky decision making.
Still, a very strong team that is expected to be in the conversation for a medal if all goes right.
3. Switzerland
- Roster: Here
- Strengths: NHL level forwards are dynamic scoring threats, NHL level defenseman are pretty solid, system has traditionally kept Switzerland in closer games than traditional powers would like
- Weaknesses: Drop offs in talent are going to be noticeable in the depth, dynamism needs to actually translate into goals
Sven Andrighetto present and accounted for at his second Olympics! Good for you, bud!
Oh yeah, and he’s got a lot of help.
The Swiss are a much more dynamic team than they looked like in 2022, with threats like Nico Hischer, Timo Meier, Kevin Fiala, Pius Suter, and Nino Niederreiter coming to play, and bring Akira Schmid to tend the net and JJ Moser and Roman Josi to defend the blueline. Combine that with Switzerland’s usual brand of no frills, no nonsense hockey that rewards puck possession and wearing the enemy down.
However, Switzerland’s greatest issue is that their system usually works pretty well, and defensively they always find a way to make the greater powers in the sport sweat…but all of that system stuff hasn’t always translated into goals, which has been a real problem for them. Granted, this is by far the most talented Switzerland has been at any level in a good long time, but when it comes down to who needs to score in tight games, that’s gonna need those younger guys to step up.
They will make it
very difficult on all their foes this year however, and that may be the difference needed to get a win over on one of the bigger powers in group in order to maybe go fishing for a medal.
4. France
- Roster: Here
- Strengths: Goaltending actually has major european experience and is .910 at worst across the board, Alex Texier and Pierre Edouard Bellemare are here, Stephane De Costa is a decently dynamic KHLer with
- Weaknesses: Is in this group, jerseys suck ass
France, you got some of your best players, and a promising prospect in net. In general, French goaltending at the international level’s looking pretty good!
Unfortunately, you are in a group with Czechia, Switzerland, and then Canada. All with their NHLers. That is
rough.
Even if PEB, Stephane De Costa, and Alex Texier all decide that it’s time to unlock some offensive potential for the good name of the French people, France is going to be fighting straight uphill for position in this tournament. They’ll make qualifiers, I’m sure of that, but they are destined for one of the most gruesome first round exits you’ve seen in the last 4 years.
You even ended up with a hogshit jersey, too. It’s like Nike knew you were going to show up just to get absolutely mollywhopped and just decided to make you the generic team. That’s just unfair to you. Here, I’ll make you one that looks a little better.
Group B – Scandinavia and Sons
1. Sweden
- Roster: Here
- Strengths: All around high-octane team; from forwards to defense, puck mobility, system is almost always fantastic, goaltending’s pretty damn good
- Weaknesses: May have to work around over-abundance of offensive defensemen, Not everybody at the games is at 100%
What crazy luck does Sweden have that the Sabres finally unlocked Rasmus Dahlin’s full potential in an olympic year of all years. The Swedes have built a nearly impenetrable wall of extremely dynamic two-way defensemen for this year’s tournament and supplemented it all with the kind of scoring talent you dream of; Luke Raymond, Jesper Bratt, Mika Zibanejad, Rickard Rakell, William Nylander, Elias Pettersson, Filip Forsberg, and then you supplement it with 200-ft guys who can do Center duties like Joel Eriksson-Ek, Gabe Landeskog, Elias Lindholm, and Adrian Kempe?
In short, enjoy the short times in which you have the puck against Sweden, because it will be a rare occasion indeed.
Tre Kronor is another team expected to medal, but this group is set to at least ensure they have to kind of work for it. If one can say they have any real weaknesses, it is that some of their best will not be at 100%; Victor Hedman is only days off from his first real action in months, they will be without Anaheim’s Leo Carlsson entirely, and while yes, in a short track rink their speed and skill will likely be a major boon, they’ll still have to contend with the scary idea that several of their players could suddenly be out of the running in one ill-timed hit.
Still, I don’t see why Sweden shouldn’t run away with the group this year. Their contemporaries are going through some stuff and their refreshing, understated normality will be a huge boon.
2. Finland
- Roster: Here
- Strengths: Hard working forward corps, Crushing trap game
- Weaknesses: Goaltending has become a weakness, Defense outside of the Dallas players is kind of thin, appears to be absolutely cursed.
Finland’s cursed this Olympic cycle.
That 2022 Gold Medal seems to have brought bad juju to a team that finally gets to bring NHL pros to the men’s tournament. They’ll be without Sasha Barkov for the entire tournament, which is painful enough, but they’re also looking as thin on pure goalscoring talent as they ever have been. Finland is still good enough to make the knockout round, don’t get me wrong; they’ve got Sebastian Aho, Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz, Artturi Lehkonen, and Anton Lundell, and all of those guys are really good! Heiskanen and Lindell are also here and they’re really good as well!
Their goaltending however, even with the reputation of Juuse Saros and Kevin Lankinen…looks
rough, and they are scraping the bottom of the barrel just to make sure Olli Maata and Henri Jokiharju are still included in this roster. Their system can make up some of the difference here, but with the issues Finland faces and the absences they will have to endure; up to and including their historic strength in net evaporating…I just don’t know if they can make it happen.
I’m putting them 2nd in division if only because I need to see Slovakia prove it this year, but make no mistake;
Leijonat is in trouble.
I still think they are talented enough to survive and keep themselves ahead of Slovakia, but only just. This team is in dire need of some lucky breaks and outside of playing Italy, I dunno if they’re gonna get them.
3. Slovakia
- Roster: Here
- Strengths: Young team with lots of personal experience in the Olympics, Faith in their youth, Peter Cehlarik is here.
- Weaknesses: Goaltending’s kinda hit or miss, Defense is merely okay in a group where it needs to be great.
If you can believe it, Slovakia, even with how young they are, has the
most experience as a team playing together as a unit in the Olympic games based entirely on who they brought last time and the times before.
Part of this is that Slovakia is a young, young team that has been tied to the emergence of specific players in the 2020s, and they are still quite strong; Slafkovsky’s coming into his own, even if Nemec isn’t doing great in New Jersey he’s still a solid player, Dalibor Dvorsky is a fiesty little forechecker, and guys like Tomas Tatar and Libor Hudacek can keep these young guns in line.
Granted, they’ll need those young guns to hold the line, because while their defense is serviceable, it’s their goaltending that may hold back the Slovaks; Sam Hlavaj has been at this for years now and has either been unbeatable or profoundly beatable between games, Stanislav Skorvanek might be okay but he is very old and has only seen Czech hockey for quite some time now, it may fall on Adam Gajan, who’s been pretty good in the NCAA, to save the day.
It’s because of the inconsistency in talent that I put them third in this group, because otherwise they are perfectly poised to make some teams lives a living hell as they find out a new middle power has truly emerged. It might take some outside luck, but they are more than willing to go make their own if they have to.
oh yeah and they HAVE PETER CEHLARIK BABY THAT’S RIGHT CEHLEBRUARY IS F***ING BACK
4. Italy
- Roster: Here
- Strengths: All speak the same language, Home town advantage, Have a nice sweater, naturalized a lot of Americans and Canadians so they won’t be completely hopeless, Damian Clara is massive and is an NHL prospect!
- Weaknesses: Couldn’t peel an NHLer off the line for the olympics, Drew this group.
Welcome to the games, Italy! I know it’s been awhile since you’ve played teams like this and I’m just gonna rip the band-aid off now; this is gonna be rough for you.
Your most winnable game is against Slovakia and that is a
tall order for a team built almost entirely off of ICE-HL players and a smattering of Swiss National League players. Your only NHL prospect is a goalie who’s just a hair above .500 in league play.
But think of how happy the fans will be to see you score once! That should be enough to keep the dream alive. Hopefully it will spur development of other hockey teams in the Alps-HL or ICE-HL to try and punch into the South. Imagine…getting as far as
Genoa.
You could be part of the team that does that! But first, you need to get your ass kicked a lot.
Oh, and you’re also gonna have to contend with the fact that the women’s team has like…actual aspirations of success and could make them happen. Maybe they’ll put in the extra effort if you tell them you get free cigarettes if you score?
Group C – The American Century of Humiliation
1 – USA
- Roster: Here
- Strengths: Goaltending, Forward corps is potentially shift-warping, Defense is probably the US’ best position right now both in terms of skating and Hockey-IQ,
- Weaknesses: Many of their forwards are going through serious low-points in their NHL seasons, Goaltending in key moments does not have a strong track record, Coaching Staff is going to put a restrictor plate on how good this team is AGAIN, Managerial decisions were made LAST YEAR at the 4 Nations Tournament; namely a team that lost and PLENTY of the jokers on that squad got to show back up again, Still somehow found a way to leave better talent at home, outside interference from politics is probably going to happen and is also going to end with a lot of distractions.
For those of you who were annoyed with how I treated Canada during the World Juniors coverage, I promise you this will more than make up for it.
It’s weird, I probably
should like this team. I love the jerseys being good for the first time in what feels like decades, the skill of the average USA Forward is miles ahead of where it used to be, The US has had some entertaining World Juniors squads that indirectly fed this one, there are multiple Bruins on this team…this should be the one place I get to have a little Jingoism, as a treat!
AND. YET. This team should be way, way,
way better than it is. But it’s not.
The US’ talent is going to be enough to get them to a medal game; Jack Eichel, Tage Thompson, Austin Matthews, the Tkachuk brothers, Clayton Keller, Kyle Connor, Charlie McAvoy, Quinn Hughes, Slavin if he’s healthy? This should be a cakewalk with the division they have.
And you know what? I like some of the out there picks! Jackson LaCombe? Inspired choice, a sneaky good defender on Anaheim. Brock Faber? Historically he’s been diet Zach Werenski but for the team built here that’s not necessarily a bad thing! He can just sling the puck to the nearest forward! Jake Sanderson? I mean, Ottawa isn’t great but he’s been a reliably annoying player and has decent metrics at stopping shot attempts.
And hey; I get it. Jason Robertson’s kind of late blooming and on the Stars, and Lane Hutson is like 10 years old. I get it.
But they’re objectively better than players on this roster right now. What the hell does JT Miller bring in 2026 other than a feeling of accidentally sticking your hand into leftovers that have gone bad? You really can’t spare room for Cole Caufield, the LEADING AMERICAN GOALSCORER, because you need Vincent Trocheck? Kyle Connor has abandoned all hope of being anything other than Patrik Laine’s “Made in the USA”-sticker equivalent but we gotta make sure
he makes the team?! Hellebuyck’s coming off of knee surgery, playing slightly above average, and
also having a miserable track record may mean the US gives up winnable games if Winnipeg’s golden boy can’t keep up and it takes too long for them to make a switch to Jason Oettinger or Jeremy Swayman?
You’re building for size in a shorter rink than normal that’s being played under IIHF rules?! With the Refs to go with it!? Oh sure, the NHL might be sending their refs and all that but they’re still gonna use the IIHF rules! Like their ruleset has like explicit things you can and cannot do in them, right!?
Just a fundamental misjudgement on all levels of what Olympic hockey looks like and coached by a who’s who of why did you ask them to come. They are built to succeed if only because they have to, and have flaws so self inflicted it’s a wonder the knife they used to do it isn’t sticking out of their collarbone.
If this team fails to get into the medal round; Guerin should be placed in stocks in a public setting.
Anyway see you for Canada vs. USA part 3.
2. Germany
- Roster: Here
- Strengths: Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stutzle, JJ Peterka, Mortiz Sieder, all on one team!
- Weaknesses: Philipp Grubauer is gonna be seeing so much rubber, dude.
Germany is in a fun space where they could be a sneaky medal candidate where everyone’s looking at Czechia or a Scandinavian team or Slovakia for that. The forechecking talent alone, even away from the names you know, is pretty solid at least from the perspective of their leagues. The Germans have focused their offense around players who can make goals happen by sheer force of will, and the addition of NHL talent has only multiplied that level of goal creation by a factor of at least ten.
Even at their worst, they will be an absolute hassle to deal with.
However, all of this lives and dies on one man: Philipp Grubauer. Grubauer this year has actually been respectable, some of his usual issues aside. He is by and large the most experienced goalie among the three the Germans brought. The problem they face? Grubauer’s larger body of work. His current year suggests this is either Lane Lambert’s system doing some sorcery, or he is amped to be here in Milan and wanted to make sure he got there. Even if the Germans put their best defensive game up every game, there’s the lingering concern that Grubauer, who has a bad tendency to let in goals from anywhere, may end up letting up stinkers. Even worse, the German defense outside of very specific players is largely built up of DEL guys; meaning he may see a
lot of pucks coming at him just from playing the US.
The confidence this player brings will be a determining factor in if they want to get into the medal conversation.
3. Latvia
- Roster: Here (spot the non-plural names!)
- Strengths: Bringing extremely hard working forwards who can do a little bit of everything, goaltending is used to playing with lesser defenses, even without current prospects still have NHL veterans, The phenom of Alberts Smits is a relatively unknown quantity, Dans Locmelis is here, Extremely passionate fanbase that travels well.
- Weaknesses: Goaltending is also used to being bad in front of lesser defenses, ceiling is lower than a lot of the other teams when it comes to offense
Latvia is our lovable group of guys when it comes to the international game. The team that seems out of place and then they get one big win that gets us all on board again to scream LAT! VIJ! A! Absolutely adore them. Couldn’t think of an international tournament they don’t immediately brighten by being here.
The good news for them is that they get to bring all their NHL/AHL talent with them, and that means Teddy Bluegers, Dans Locmelis, Ed Tralmarks, Zemgus Girgensons, goaltenders Arturs Silovs and Elvis Merzlikens, and even some ex-NHL talent like Kaspars Daugavins, Kristers Gudlevskis and Rudolfs Balcers get to come to the dance! Their goalies have the capacity to be worldbeaters for exactly one game or two during big competitions, and that many of these guys have competed together at the World Championships; meaning that Latvia is a team designed to surprise and scare teams that aren’t ready for their level of effort.
And of course, there’s that young man; Alberts Smits. Smits was by far the best player for Latvia at the World Juniors, and the youngest player in these games (and especially in their d-corps) by quite a margin. Smits will be for most of the teams he plays a great unknown that they may see one day in the NHL, and Smits could very well end up being the beating heart of the team’s defense.
As for how far they can go? This is kind of the problem. The Latvians are bringing plenty of decent players…their group is just doing that as well, and far more/more talented players. It will require Latvia to do what they do best at these tournaments; work harder than everybody.
4. Denmark
- Roster: Here
- Strengths: NHL players are gifted 200-foot players, Goaltending might get them a game or two.
- Weaknesses: Their defense is so old and so not ready for what’s coming. Goaltending might lose them a game or two.
Denmark gets to bring two very strong goaltenders to this tournament, and they also get to bring some quality dual-threat forwards like Oliver Bjorkstrand, Lars Eller, Oscar Fisker Molgaard, and Nikolaj Ehlers to this tourney. These players may not be the needle movers of the league, but in international play each has distinguished themselves as major x-factors for the Danes.
Unfortunately for the Danes, they are going to need those players to take on a lot of ice time; because outside of their NHL standouts, there is a noticeable gulf between them and the next best team. Those NHLers are also some of the younger players on their roster; Denmark is by far the oldest team at this tournament, and that bodes very ill for a team that has historically been a bit of an also-ran in a division with Germany, the US, and Latvia.
They
can however find some wins here and there, and a big part of why is that they have Frederik Andersen, and Mads Soogard. Andersen, when he’s not playing in a blue jersey and it isn’t the playoffs, can be a pretty solid goaltender if given the proper support. However, he’s not necessarily doing any better than the three players taking up backup roles for Brandon Bussi.
They won’t be much like the Denmark teams at the World Juniors who show up to get stomped out, but it will be a very, very gross
2026 Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament
Group A – Group of Death and Plague
United States
The US showed up exactly what we expected they would be; frontrunners for a silver medal at the absolute worst.
The Americans have shown up with a team full of young phenoms like Abbey Murphy, Taylor Heise, Hannah Bilka, Kirsten Simms, and Tessa Janecke to supplement the all-world talent of Hilary Knight, Alex Carpenter, Hayley Scamurra, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and Kelly Pannek. Supplementing that blueline is a host of fantastic skating defenders like Megan Keller and Cayla Barnes who compliment their overwhelming offensive talent with intelligent, sensible playmaking. And in net? They get to have the Green Monster herself; Aerin Frankel in net.
Simply put, if there was ever a team to challenge this version of Team Canada and challenge them deeply, you would be hard pressed to build one better.
Will it pay off? The only place we’ll find out is during the gold medal game.
Canada
It’s gonna be interesting
and brutal for Canada. They’re the gold medalists until proven otherwise, but man if it doesn’t feel like they know their old foe is lurking in the shadows to take the crown again.
Canada brought their usual embarrassment of riches to the tournament; namely a squad that consists entirely of PWHL Talent, and what talent it is. Even just starting with Marie-Philip Poulin as your opening salvo feels unfair, as she’s been the real Captain Clutch for Team Canada; locking up big wins and huge goals in tight situations for what is increasingly becoming two decades. Making sure she’s supported with ladies like Brianne Jenner, Julia Gosling, Daryl Watts, Natalie Spooner and Blayre Turnbull just makes sure that Canada is in no hurry to lose to just about anyone…
…at least, with an exception they know they will have to get up for.
Czechia
The Czechs did not start this tournament well, but have at long last found a little bit of momentum after three games.
Two games in and Czechia’s best players have yet to truly emerge, and part of it is that they keep running into teams that frustrate them badly; Switzerland brought them to a shootout, and then the US mashed them into a fine paste. Thanks to this Group being full of worldkilling teams, the chances for Czechia to get their act together and pick up a win were slimming, until they finally got on the win column with a 2-0 shutout.
They’re still dependent on Japan pulling some points off of Sweden, but there’s no worry for them now.
Switzerland
Well, they were gonna play today, but then someone looked at a Finland player and now their first game is on hold because the finnish norovirus doesn’t f!#k around and they do not want
another team becoming a vector for a massively unpleasant disease.
Thankfully, they managed to keep that under wraps, and the Swiss showed up promptly ready to bring a strangling game to the Olympics.
If there is a major strength to their game, it is that Swiss Hockey being a universally difficult thing to take on and that has been a useful skill in keeping their games close.
If there’s anything that’s also universal, it’s also that offense is maybe Switzerland’s biggest flaw. Czechia was able to peel a point off of the Swiss simply by pushing for overtime, and their attempt to beat Team Canada by simply removing the amount of things happening in the game sort of backfired when they started taking penalties left and right.
Finland
I’m not kidding. Finland might actually, genuinely be cursed.
Finland showed up to camp with a raging Norovirus problem that has set their first game against Canada back almost to the beginning of the men’s tournament, and will play the USA with what is increasingly looking like a team with two lines of players left.
The Norivirus issue according to the team has passed, but the isolation means that the Finns are coming into group play ready to get absolutely savaged by their greater power counterparts who don’t have Norovirus. It sucks because they do have great talent, but just about all of them are now huddled up in a beautiful italian isolation bed hoping the next bit of water they drink doesn’t come back up. That puts them at a major disadvantage that means that even if they get their players back, they’ll have to win some games in increasingly goofy ways to get ahead of whatever violence is inflicted on their depleted roster through the first couple games they
do get to play.
Group B – Group of Sverige, Sunshine and Smiles
Sweden
Sweden as a nation produces extremely talented women’s hockey players, and they don’t necessarily even have to leave home with the
Damen league being a major part of Sweden’s
As a coherent team? Not so much. That has been a major sore spot for Sweden over the years; they show up talented but not as a team. Year after year, the women’s program spent a mystifying amount of time behind the men’s teams, working with almost no money in comparison to the guys, and barely any investment.
Through their first game however…it seems like Sweden has made the necessary adjustments to become medalists.
It remains to be seen if this will be the case for the rest of the tournament, but Group B is the perfect place for a team that’s still trying to get it’s footing back under itself to see what works and what doesn’t in order to build chemistry and use that talent to finally find some glory!
Germany
The Germans’ DFEL is a bit of an unknown for North Americans, but it’s clear from their game against Japan that maybe underestimating the Frauen might be a fool’s errand.
Laura Kluge has been a major part of their offense already, but it’s the homegrown and home-staying talent that’s found real impressive games as the lights illuminate the Olympic rings. Nicola Hadraschek-Eisenschmid leads the team in goals and it seems like the Germans want to get the best out of their offense by putting Hadraschek-Eisenschmid and Kluge in the best position to create goals for them.
If there’s one area they will falter, it’s probably their defense, which rubberbands between vets and youth pretty violently. That will leave Sarah Absreiter, another PWHL alum, to have to pick up the pieces, and I’m afraid the good teams in this tournament are just too high a bar to clear for her. She’s pretty good otherwise!
Germany will likely take 2nd here, and while I do think they
could maybe make some noise, it’s going to require some of their depth to start taking advantage of the ice in front of them.
Japan
“Smile Japan” at the 2014 Olympics was an adorable story of a team that seemingly punched above it’s weight to be involved at all in the Winter Games.
Nearly a decade later, Japan is not here to be a cute story anymore. They are showing up to play.
Japan’s premiere squad is scrappy, and their best players are battle tested in ways you may not expect; the Shiga sisters of Hokkaido prefecture are Damen League dynamos alongside Haruka Toko and Ayaka Hitosato. Along for the ride are some of the youngest, players at the games like Nana Akimoto that will ride alongside some of the oldest. Japan still has to deal with the painful reality of having to eventually play a nation that
doesn’t treat the sport as a quirk of it’s most northern region, but as they are currently constructed, they will remain a competitive team that keeps their foes working for everything.
Italy
Italia, forgive me. I was not aware of your game.
That doesn’t mean you’re medaling, but it just means you’re going to be a much more interesting squad than most gave you credit for.
So yeah it might shock you to learn but Italy’s women’s team at the international level is actually kind of crazy. Now, did they naturalize a bunch of girls to make this happen? Sure, but unlike the men’s team they all distinctly sound like girls who have delightful memories of visiting Rome on a school field trip. I have often said that Duxbury is the Vienna of the South Shore.
Juicing their numbers aside, it’s clear they chose some real diamonds in the rough, as their first game against France made it clear they are
not going to be pushed around. While I don’t anticipate them competing for a medal anytime soon, there’s a chance they could at least make a go at being a proud first round exit.
France
Man I hope these ladies get to see Milan for all it’s worth because otherwise France through three games has been a punching bag.
Sure, they do have
some talent, but the gulf between them and even Italy is starting to look like something they just can’t cross.
Good luck for all teams, especially the one you, the reader, cheer for…and GO FOR GOLD!
