The 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in the Chinese capital Beijing between February 4-20, and ice hockey is one of the 15 sports in which teams will compete. The tournament is usually very popular, both among players and the audience, and many believe that a gold in the Olympics is a greater achievement than a World Cup gold. Managing to take a medal in both tournaments in the same year is possible, something that Sweden among others have succeeded with.
In the men’s tournament, 12 nations take part divided into three groups with four teams in each. After a classic group game, qualifiers and finals await, where a new Olympic champion will finally be crowned. As of this year, ten nations will participate in the women’s tournament, where the top eight will advance to the quarter-finals.
How is the tournament played?
Men’s Olympic Tournament
The 2022 Men’s Olympic Tournament in China will be divided into three groups, Group A, Group B and Group C. There will be four teams in these groups, which means that a total of twelve nations will participate in the Olympic tournament on the men’s side. The three group leaders go straight to the quarter-finals together with the best group runner-up from the three groups. All remaining teams will then play qualifiers for the playoffs to be able to reach one of the quarter-final places together with the already finished teams.
The teams participating in the men’s hockey Olympics 2022 are:
Denmark
Finland
Canada
China
Latvia
Russian Olympic Committee
Switzerland
Slovakia
Sweden
Czech Republic
Germany
USA
Ladies’ Olympic Tournament
On the women’s side, the tournament is played between ten teams divided into two groups, Group A and Group B. The five best nations play in Group A. All five play for the best place in the group, but are already cleared for the quarterfinals. The three best teams from Group B will also advance to the quarter-finals. Then the playoffs are played as usual.
The teams participating in the Ladie’s Ice Hockey Olympics 2022 are:
Denmark
Finland
Japan
Canada
China
Russian Olympic Committee
Switzerland
Sweden
Czech Republic
USA
In which cities is ice hockey played during the 2022 Olympics?
The Olympic Games will be played in the Chinese capital Beijing 2022. The ice hockey matches will be played at Beijing National Indoor Stadium and Wukesong Arena. They can accommodate 18,000 and 10,000 spectators respectively.
⭐ Can NHL-players take part in the Olympics?
In the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, NHL players will be included again. When the Olympics took place in 2018, there were no NHL players in the tournament, but during the Olympics 2022 and 2026, they will be free to participate.
Qualifications for the Olympics 2022
Not all teams need to qualify for the Olympics. Swedens’ men’s side has, for example, received one of eight places in the championship for its capacity as a highly ranked country in the hockey world. On the Ladie’s side, Damkronorna, had to qualify to take part.
Men’s qualifiers for the Olympics
Twelve teams will take part in the Men’s Olympic Tournament. Eight of these teams have qualified through world rankings. The ranking is based on the results between the World Cup 2017-2020, and the Olympic Games 2018. The teams that have qualified for the 2022 Olympics via world rankings are Canada, Russia, Finland, the USA, Sweden, Germany, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
Three teams have made it to the Olympics by qualifying during the Olympic qualifiers in September. These countries are Latvia, Denmark and Slovakia. China is also directly qualified for the Olympics in Beijing in its capacity as the host country.
Women’s qualification for the Olympics
Ten countries will participate in the Women’s Olympic Tournament. Seven of these teams went straight to the tournament without having to qualify. Six of the teams are top-ranked in the world rankings and are qualified for the championship because of this. China is qualified as the host nation.
The last three teams of the tournament were decided during the qualifying tournaments that were arranged in November 2021, where Sweden hosted Slovakia, South Korea and France for matches in Luleå. After three straight victories, you could win your tournament and thus take one of the Olympic spots. Similar tournaments were played simultaneously in Germany and the Czech Republic, where Denmark and the Czech Republic emerged victorious.
When is the Ice Hockey Olympics 2022 played?
The Olympic Games begin on February 4 and end on February 20. The ladies’ hockey tournament is played between February 3 and February 17, while the men’s tournament starts on February 9 and ends on February 20.
Where is the Winter Olympics 2022 played?
The Winter Olympics will be held in the Chinese capital Beijing. Arenas for ice hockey are Wukesong Arena and Beijing National Indoor Stadium.
Who will win Olympic gold?
Which team will win the Olympics is difficult to predict. Onn the men’s side however, Canada is, as always, favorites to grab the Olympic gold, not least in 2022 when the NHL players are back in the Olympics. On the women’s side, the USA can be seen as favorites, alongside Canada.
Earlier editions of the Olympic Ice Hockey Championship
For men, the Olympic Games in ice hockey have been played since 1920, when the starting shot was heard in Antwerp, Belgium. Since then, the tournament has been played every four years, with the exception of the years of World War II in the early 1940s. After the 1992 Olympics, the Olympics were played again two years later, in 1994 in Lillehammer. After that, the tournament was played every four years again.
On the women’s side, the tournament has been played since 1998. In 1992, ice hockey for women was voted into the congress, and since 1998 in Nagano, it has been a sport on the Olympic schedule. Only six tournaments have been played so far. The Olympic tournament in Beijing will be the seventh.
Here we list all previous winners of the Olympics
Men’s: 1920: Canada, 1924: Canada, 1928: Canada 1932: Canada, 1936: Great Britain, 1948: Canada, 1952: Canada, 1956: USSR1960: USA 1964: USSR1968: USSR1972: USSR1976: USSR1980: USA 1984: USSR1988: USSR1992: OSS1994: Sweden1998: The Czech Republic2002. Canada 2006: Sweden2010: Canada, 2014: Canada, 2018: Russian Olympic Committee
Ladies: 1998: USA, 2002: Canada, 2006: Canada2010: Canada, 2014: Canada, 2018: USA
Upcoming Olympic ice hockey tournaments
The next Olympic Games to take place are the 2026 Olympics in Milan. Sweden took part with the host cities Åre and Östersund, and competed to host the 2026 Olympics, but instead of Östersund Arena, also the ice hockey will be played in Italy.
The medal league in the Olympic Games
Here we list all medals that teams have taken home in ice hockey tournaments in the Olympic Games over the years. Canada has been the most successful country on both the men’s and women’s sides.