Finland won the Winter Olympics 2022 Gold Medal, their first Gold Medal in Winter Olympics Men’s Hockey! Finland defeated the Russian Olympic Committee 2-1.
The Russian Olympic Committee got silver after their Final loss to Finland.
And, Slovakia won the Bronze Medal after defeating Sweden 4-0 to win their first Winter Olympics Men’s Ice Hockey medal ever as an independent nation!
Gold Medal Final:
Finland 2 Russian Olympic Committee 1
Bronze Medal Final:
Sweden 0 Slovakia 4
Final Standings: Games Played; Wins-Overtime Wins-Overtime Losses-Losses; Goals For-Goals Against; Goal Differential; Points
- Finland: 6; 5-1-0-0; 22-8; +14; 17
- Russian Olympic Committee: 6; 3-1-1-1; 14-10; +4; 12
- Slovakia: 7; 3-1-0-3; 19-16; +3; 11
- Sweden: 6; 3-0-2-1; 13-13; 0; 11
- USA: 4; 3-0-1-0; 17-7; +10; 10
- Canada: 5; 3-0-0-2; 19-9; +10; 9
- Denmark: 5; 3-0-0-2; 11-11; 0; 9
- Switzerland: 5; 1-0-1-3; 9-15; -6; 4
- Czech Republic: 4; 0-2-0-2; 11-12; -1; 4
- Germany: 4; 1-0-0-3; 6-14; -8; 3
- Latvia: 4; 0-0-0-4; 7-14; -7; 0
- PR China: 4; 0-0-0-4; 4-23; -19; 0
Analysis:
Finland: Finland have now won an Olympic Gold Medal in Men’s Ice Hockey. Finland did very well to control most of their games, and the games they had to comeback, they still won. Finland had the highest positive goal differential. Finland will be a favorite to win the 2022 World Championship, hosted by Finland. Finland has been a top team for awhile, and this Gold Medal win is a first for the Olympics, while the Finnish have 3 World Championships already.
Russian Olympic Committee: The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) had the best team at the Olympics player for player, and should be disappointed that they lost the Gold Medal Final, but the truth is that the ROC never were the best team in playing at the Olympics. Their Silver Medal performance on a less than stellar Olympics is a testament to the consistency of Russian hockey.
Slovakia: Slovakia earned their 1st Medal at the Winter Olympics in Men’s Ice Hockey! Slovakia has gotten 4th before, and in the World Championships, Slovakia has done well to win 1 World Championship, as well as get 2nd twice and 3rd once. Slovakia’s Olympic Bronze was a sign that Slovakia has a future that is bright and that they can dominate against the best teams!
Sweden: Sweden should be upset to not earn a medal as they were playing like the #2 team in the Olympics going into the semifinals. Sweden’s 0-4 loss showed a lack of focus and possibly a sense of entitlement and lack of respect for the Bronze Medal. But, given the reaction of the Swedes, it appears it was merely a good Slovakian performance. Sweden did very well until the medal rounds.
USA: USA was great in Group play, but their loss to Slovakia displayed American consistent inconsistency to the finest! The USA is consistently inconsistent in ice hockey. It seems like every year, the USA is the best team and then will lose in the knockout rounds. Unfortunately in national team ice hockey, there are no 7 game series. So, the USA cannot slip up. The USA continues to do that. Also, the USA must fix their lack of power play scoring.
Canada: Canada did not convert their chances enough against the best teams they played, while they dominated the others. Outside of their opening Germany win, Canada sort of seemed like an outsider to win the whole time, and this proved true. Their World Championship should be better later this year. Their roster was not as strong for the Winter Olympics this year, partly due to bad scouting it appears.
Denmark: Denmark did very well for them this Olympics! They are a team that are improving and continued to show it this Winter Olympics. With the resources in Denmark, the Danish could become a consistently top level ice hockey team.
Switzerland: Switzerland needs to get their stuff together. At a certain point, Switzerland needs to start winning! Switzerland needs to go for Gold! They are that good. But they are playing below the level of many nations they could be better than.
Czech Republic: The Czech Republic had an impressive two overtime win streak, but lost to Switzerland in the playoffs round. The Czech Republic should have played better, but in the end, they did lose to a good Switzerland team whose only good game was against the Czech Republic.
Germany: Germany were a favorite at this Olympics given how well they did in 2018 without NHL players at those Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Germany is a very good team at times, but they lacked this at this Olympics. Germany needs to have a good World Championship so that they can stop this sliding skid before it is too late. Germany kept getting better and so Germany should continue this momentum.
Latvia: Latvia did about as well as they should have. They were competitive in most of their games, except their game against Slovakia. Latvia has a lot to be proud of because it was not their best tournament and they still did not do their worst they could have. Latvia stayed at the highest level, and showed they have the ability to improve.
PR China: PR China had a new team with lots of naturalized players and showed potential to one day make it to the highest level of the World Championship. PR China’s KHL team, Kunlun Red Star, is where all of their players came from. If this continuity continues, PR China could gain enough skill, experience, and chemistry to compete well at this high level. But for now, PR China is in Division 2 A, which is really the 4th level. And it appears that as of now, PR China will not even be competing in this later in the 2022 World Championships.
Favorites for the 2022 World Championship Ice Hockey:
- Finland
- Canada
- Russia
- USA
- Sweden
- Slovakia
- Czech Republic
- Switzerland
- Denmark
- Germany
- Latvia
- Norway
- Kazakhstan
- Belarus
- Italy
- Great Britain
KTH 