Just because we have a nearly three week break in NHL hockey doesn’t mean you won’t be able to see your Carolina Hurricanes play. The Olympics, after all, are the reason we have this break in the first
place.
For the first time since the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia, the NHL is sending their players over to the Winter Olympics to compete in the men’s hockey tournament. Unfortunately because Russia is being Russia, the IOC isn’t allowing them to compete in this version of the games so players like Alex Ovechkin won’t be there. Still, if you enjoyed the Four Nations last year, you’re going to get that on steroids.
So here’s your guide in both the micro and the macro. Keep this page handy for reference over the next couple of weeks, and thanks to the IIHF and NHL for the information.
How the Olympic Tournamnet Works
There are twelve teams that will compete for a medal in this tournament, and are divided into three pools.
Each country will only play the teams in their pool in the preliminaries. So if you’re hoping for a USA/Canada match this week you’re out of luck.
There is overtime in Olympic hockey, unlike other international sports, and in group play the standings are determined using a 3/2/1/0 system. A regulation win gets you three points, a win in overtime or a shootout gets you two points, a loss in overtime or a shootout gets you one point, and a regulation loss doesn’t earn you any points. Overtime in the preliminary rounds is the same as the NHL, but the shootout is best of five instead of best of three. One exciting part—after you’ve chosen your five and it’s still a tie, you can reuse skaters over and over again until the tie is broken.
After the preliminaries, each group winner gets an automatic pass to the Quarterfinals, and then the team with the highest points after that fills out that fourth slot. The other eight teams are seeded based on points and other tiebreakers into a “Qualification Round.” Those winners are bracketed with the teams with the bye, and we go from there. Thus, every country is guaranteed to play at least four matches—three Pool Play and at least one playoff.
Once you hit the quarters it’s a regular tournament, with the losers of the semifinals facing off for the Bronze Medal and the winners going for the Gold.
Which Hurricanes are competing?
In case you need a reminder, here’s who Carolina sent over to Italy to compete:
- Jaccob Slavin — United States
- Sebastian Aho — Finland (Alternate Captain)
- Seth Jarvis — Canada
- Nikolaj Ehlers — Denmark
- Frederik Andersen — Denmark
When are they playing?
The full schedule is outlined here, but if all you want to do is watch the Hurricanes play, this is when you should tune in:
- Wednesday, February 11 10:40 AM — Slovakia vs. Finland (Peacock, USA network)
- Thursday, February 12 10:40 AM — Czechia vs. Canada (Peacock, USA network)
- Thursday, February 12 3:10 PM — Latvia vs. USA (Peacock, USA Network)
- Thursday, February 12, 3:10 PM — Germany vs. Denmark (Peacock)
- Friday, February 13 6:10 AM — Finland vs. Sweden (Peacock, USA Network)
- Friday, February 13 3:10 PM — Canada vs. Switzerland (Peacock)
- Saturday, February 14 10:40 AM — Finland vs. Italy (Peacock, USA Network)
- Saturday, February 14 3:10 PM — USA vs. Denmark (Peacock, USA Network)
- Sunday, February 15 10:40 AM — Canada vs. France (Peacock, USA Network)
- Sunday, February 15 1:10 PM — Denmark vs. Latvia (Peacock, CNBC)
- Sunday, February 15, 3:10 PM — USA vs. Germany (Peacock, USA Network.
From there, the “Qualification Playoff” occurs all on Tuesday, February 17th. If any of the four teams are in that round the time they play will be announced. Then the quarterfinals start on Wednesday, February 18th. The Semifinals will be on Friday, February 20th.
The Medals will be determined on Saturday, February 21st at 2:40 PM for the Bronze, and the Gold will be played at 8:10 AM Sunday, February 22nd on NBC. A lot of folks are expecting a USA/Canada Final, but the brackets will determine if that is possible.
There’s your primer. Once things get going they get going at warp speed, and even if a country ends up eliminated from the tournament the earliest it would happen won’t be until next Tuesday. We’ll see how many Hurricanes we get to root for as the tournament progresses.
