Mode, Favorites, NHL player: Questions about ice hockey

What is the tournament mode?

The game is played in three preliminary groups of four teams each. Germany advises in group A with Canada, the USA and host China.

• What is the tournament mode?
• Why do not the NHL players play with?
• Who are the favorites on the medals?

_ Schedule and groups at a glance _

Only the group winners and the best group season qualify directly for the quarterfinals on Wednesday's coming week. The other eight teams play a qualifier on Tuesday. In doing so, the fifth placed on the twelfth places, the sixth on the eleventh, etc. In the quarterfinals, the best-placed team after the preliminary round occurs on the winner of the duel between eight and Neunde etc.

Overall, all twelve participants will be at least four four games in seven days, maximum even seven games in ten or eleven days.

Why do not the NHL players play with?

Actually, the NHL bosses had fixed the participation in Olympic games in writing on the pressure of the NHLPA player union.

Exceptions should only apply in special hardness cases that are in the overall interest of the league. Due to the Coronapandemie - and especially the occurrence of the omikron variant, however, occurred exactly such a hardship case. Because of the quarantine requirements, the 32 NHL teams were sometimes more than a total of over 100 players and officials, so it came to over 100 game shifts at the end of 2021 and around the turn of the year. In order to be able to catch up on this, League and Players agreed before expiration of the absorption period on January 10, 2022, not to participate in the games again.

An additional role for players also played that the situation was initially unclear to any longer-term quarantine stays in China in the case of positive tests before the start of the games.

Who are the favorites on the medals?

The Russian team again under the Olympic Flag, which had cut away the Olympic In Final Germany in 2018 (4: 3 to Overtime), is again favorite. The tournament top scorer of Pyeongchang, Nikita Gusev (12 points in 7 games) is again involved after the interim nhl detour. Further key players like Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild) or the former superstar Ilya Kovalchuk, who finished his career last summer and the manager of the Olympiasteam with in Beijing is missing this time, however.

The Chinese selection, here during the training in the National Stadium, despite numerous naturalizations is only criminal outsiders. imago images / vcg

The lack of NHL players usually sparks the hierarchies that applicable to large tournaments otherwise a little confused. Although Canada in Eric Staal (37) has a former Olympic and Stanley Cup winner in their own ranks, in Owen Power the defenders drawn in NHL Draft 2021 at number one of Buffalo - the enormous depth of the huge player founder from the NHL, however, is missing. The same applies to the US, which therefore sent numerous college players to Beijing.

And so the hour could again beat for teams like Germany or Switzerland, which bring a good mix of internationally experienced players to start - not a few of them with NHL experience. Especially Finland and Sweden, who also compete with experienced selections, may not be underestimated by no more than the German group opponents of Canada and the USA, which are particularly heavily affected by the lack of NHL players. This is also true for the Czech Republic, which is led by the long-standing NHL star David Krejci (35) and has some other prominent actors in their own ranks.