Tag: Sunday

With NHL players set to return to the Olympic stage for the first time since 2014, the field of competition will be all-but-set on Sunday.

Three qualifying tournaments are underway across Europe this weekend. The winner of each event will claim a spot in the 12-team tournament that will take place in Milan in 2026.

All three tournaments will come down to a winner-take-all game on Sunday. Here are the six countries that are in the mix. All games are livestreamed on YouTube, with links accessible in most countries from IIHF.com.

Group D – Bratislava, Slovakia

The host Slovaks will take on Kazakhstan at noon ET on Sunday.

Both sides are 2-0 so far. Slovakia beat Austria 2-1 and Hungary 7-3, while the Kazakhs beat Austria 2-1 and Hungary 5-2.

That gives Slovakia a slight edge in goal differential, but it doesn’t matter. Whichever teams wins on Sunday will earn the Olympic berth.

Slovakia’s roster features more names that would be familiar to North American hockey fans, including Tomas Tatar and Simon Nemec of the New Jersey Devils, Martin Pospisil of the Calgary Flames and Pavol Regenda of the Anaheim Ducks, and they’re coached by former Buffalo Sabres forward Craig Ramsay. Goaltender Samuel Hlavaj, 23, was signed to a free-agent contract by the Minnesota Wild last April and is expected to make his North American pro debut with the AHL’s Iowa Wild this fall. He has played both games in this tournament for the Slovaks, allowing four goals.

In years past, Kazakhstan kept an open door for North American players to join its national team, but that is no longer the case. You won’t see any NHL names on the Kazakh roster, which is primarily composed of players who compete in Russia’s KHL.

The leading scorer through the first two games of Group D qualifying is Kazakhstan’s 29-year-old forward Nikita Mikhailis, with three goals.

Slovakia sits ninth in the IIHF’s 2024 world ranking, while Kazakhstan is 15th.

Group E – Riga, Latvia

Group E’s host Latvians will square off against France on Sunday at 10 a.m. ET.

Latvia comes into the final game with a 4-2 win over Slovenia and a 5-1 victory over Ukraine. The French team beat Slovenia 5-1 and Ukraine 7-2.

Coming into the tournament, the big news for the Latvians was the absence of goaltender Arturs Silovs, the 23-year-old from the Vancouver Canucks system who was named MVP of the 2023 IIHF World Championship.

But the Riga native was left off the roster for the qualifying tournament after it was determined that he was dealing with inflammation in his knee due to overtraining.

In an interview with a Latvian outlet reported by Patrick Johnston from Vancouver’s The Province, Latvian goalie coach and former NHLer Arturs Irbe said the condition is not serious and shouldn’t affect Silovs for the NHL season.

In his place, 32-year-old Kristers Gudlevskis, who was in the Tampa Bay Lightning system a decade ago, has taken the reins. He has limited opponents to just three goals. Zemgus Girgensons, now of the Lightning, Rodrigo Abols, who has been signed by the Philadelphia Flyers, and Uvis Balinskis from the Florida Panthers organization are the three Latvians in the tournament with NHL connections.

While Latvia is 10th in the current world ranking, France is 14th. So their first two wins in the tournament have been impressive. Their only current NHL player is forward Alexandre Texier, who was traded to the St. Louis Blues during the offseason. He and his teammate Pierrick Dube are leading the group with five points each through two games while Balinskis, a defenseman, is one of two Latvians with four points.

Will the host Latvians be able to hold off the fiery French and seize that Olympic berth on Sunday without their young star, Silovs?

Group F – Aalborg, Denmark

Denmark and Norway currently sit 11-12 in IIHF world rankings, but it’s the Norwegians who have a slight upper hand heading into Sunday’s head-to-head matchup in Allborg at 10:30 a.m. ET.

In their first two games, Norway beat Japan 4-2 and took down Great Britain by a score of 6-2. The Danes beat the Brits 3-1, but needed overtime to get past Japan, with Lars Eller of the Pittsburgh Penguins giving his group the 3-2 victory.

Denmark’s roster also includes Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets and an NHL-ready goalie tandem of Frederik Andersen and Mads Sogaard, with Andersen handling duties between the pipes for the first two games. Oliver Bjorkstrand of the Seattle Kraken was also expected to participate, but has been sidelined with an injury.

For Norway, all you really need to know is that Mats Zuccarello, who turns 37 on Sunday, is leading the charge to play in his third Olympics. The torchbearer for his country, his four assists tie him with teammates Patrick Thoresen and Ken Andre Olimb for the scoring lead in the group through two games. Eller is one of three Danish players with three points.

Norway’s hockey program is on the rise, as illustrated by the country putting two players into the first round of the 2024 NHL draft back in June. In Aalborg, Zuccarello is joined by both 18-year-olds, forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and defender Stian Solberg.

The Norwegians will go into Sunday’s deciding game with one more standings point than Denmark, and a 6-3 edge in goal differential. But none of that matters on Sunday. The winner will claim the Olympic berth.

The Rest of the Field

Nine other men’s hockey teams have already qualified for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The host Italians are ranked 20th in the world. Here’s the rest of the field:

1. Canada
2. Russia *
3. Finland
4. Czechia
5. Switzerland
6. United States
7. Sweden
8. Germany

While Russia has achieved qualification status, the nation remains banned from IIHF events through 2025, which includes Olympic hockey. If the ban remains in place through February of 2026, another country will be added in Russia’s place. Belarus is also currently banned and was not permitted to participate in this weeks qualifiers, thus eliminating any Olympic hopes for the nation.