Is it really the quarterfinals already?
Happy Hockey Friday everybody! Dylan Nazareth here from The Ice Garden with the latest on the women’s hockey tournament at the Olympic Games in Milan. It’s hard to believe, but preliminary play has wrapped, and we’ve reached the knockout stage!
In case you’re not caught up, the tournament began with two groups of five teams. The top-ranked teams all competed in Group A, and all five advanced to the playoffs. The lower-ranked teams competed in Group B, with the top three moving forward.
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Here’s a quick look at the four quarterfinal matchups set to take place today and tomorrow. After the quarterfinals, teams will be reseeded to determine the semifinal matchups, which take place on Feb. 16th.
(All times are listed in ET)
Czechia 🇨🇿 vs. Sweden 🇸🇪 (Friday at 10:40 a.m.)
The knockout stage kicks off with an all-European matchup between Czechia and Sweden. Czechia finished third in Group A, with their sole win coming over Finland. Sweden meanwhile finished atop Group B, going undefeated through preliminary play with 18 goals scored and just two allowed. Of course, that was against lower-ranked teams. As The Ice Garden’s Silvia Leija Rosas writes, this one will be a battle between Sweden’s confidence and Czechia’s grind for the chance to compete for a medal.
USA 🇺🇸 vs. Italy 🇮🇹 (Friday at 3:10 p.m.)
Italy has been one of the best stories of this tournament so far. Coming in as one of the lowest-ranked teams, the host country earned their first-ever win at the Olympics, then took home a second victory to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time. Unfortunately, this will probably be where their story comes to an end. The USA has looked in peak form at this tournament so far, going undefeated with just one goal conceded, notably cruising to 5-0 win over the Canadians. Barring a miracle for the Italians, the Americans will take this one by a mile.
Canada 🇨🇦 vs. Germany 🇩🇪 (Saturday at 10:40 a.m.)
On Saturday, Canada gets their medal chase underway, taking on Germany. After a bruising shutout defeat to the Americans, Canada wrapped up preliminary play on Thursday with a commanding 5-0 win over Finland, finishing overall with three wins and a loss. Germany finished second in Group B with three wins — one in overtime — and a loss. They have a strong goaltender in Montréal Victoire backup Sandra Abstreiter, but it’ll be a tall task to compete with the Canadians, who had 14 goals across their three wins (not to mention, Victoire starting goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens in between the pipes).
Finland 🇫🇮 vs. Switzerland 🇨🇭 (Saturday at 3:10 p.m.)
The only rematch of the four quarterfinals, a meeting between Finland and Switzerland wraps up this stage of the knockout round. In Group A preliminary play, Finland beat Switzerland 3-1, backstopped by Ottawa Charge goaltender Sanni Ahola. The two teams also met in the bronze medal game of the 2022 Olympics, which Finland took 4-0. That being said, don’t expect the Swiss to go down without a fight, looking for their first Olympic medal since taking bronze in 2014.
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More from around women’s hockey:
Frost Bites, Episode 2: Olympic edition (Reid Lemker — The Ice Garden)
Youth leads USA to dominant 5-0 victory over archrival Canada (Lydia Murray — The Ice Garden)
The IX Sports Hockey Podcast: Olympics and PWHL check in (Maya Smith — The Ice Garden)
Top PWHL performers through the Olympic women’s hockey preliminary round (Chris Sinclair — The Hockey News)
NEWHA in January (Frances Klemm — The Ice Garden)
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