Sochi Olympics Ice Hockey: Men’s and Women’s Schedules, Tournament Format Breakdown

(photo: www.sochi2014.com)

While the Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament has been in full swing since the end of last week, the Men’s Tournament officially begins today at 12:00 PM EST.

The Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament features 12 teams, divided into 3 groups of 4. The men’s teams play will start as the women’s did: 3 round robin games against the other teams in their pool. After these preliminary rounds, each team will be assigned a seed from 1D-12D. This ranking will be based on each team’s position in their group, number of points earned, goal differential, goals scored, and their 2013 IIHF World Ranking.

Seeds 1D-4D earn a bye into the Quarterfinals while the remaining 8 teams must compete in a single elimination Qualification Playoff where they will earn an “E” ranking of E1-E4. (Losers exit the tournament with a rank of 9-12, based on their position at the end of pool play)
5D vs. 12D (Winner will become E1)
6D vs. 11D (Winner will become E2)
7D vs. 10D (Winner will become E3)
8D vs. 9D (Winner will become E4)

The 4 “E” teams will then join the 4 “D” teams in the Quarterfinals, in which the winners advance to the Semifinals and earn an “F” ranking. (Losers exit the tournament with a rank of 5-8, based on their position at the end of pool play)
1D vs. E4 (Winner will become F1)
2D vs. E3 (Winner will become F2)
3D vs. E2 (Winner will become F3)
4D vs. E1 (Winner will become F4)

The “F” teams face off in the Semifinals, with the winner of each game advancing to the Gold Medal game, and the losers to the Bronze Medal game.
F1 – F4 (Winner plays for gold, loser for bronze)
F2 – F3 (Winner plays for gold, loser for bronze)

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The Women’s Tournament works a little differently. There are 2 groups instead of 3, featuring only 8 teams in total. Even the pools the ladies were placed in were decided quite differently from the men. Because there is very little parity in women’s hockey, the top 4 teams are all in the same heat; whereas the talent is more spread out across the men’s groups. This was done deliberately to keep the elite teams from beating up the little guys, making all the games a little more competitive.

A lot more is already determined at the end of the Preliminary Round than in the men’s tournament. The top teams from Group A (1A and 2A) receive a bye all the way into the Semifinals. The bottom teams from Group A (3A and 4A) and the top teams from Group B (1B and 2B) advance to the Quarterfinals. (The bottom teams from Group B go to a Final Classification Playoff game to determine their rank)

Quarterfinals match-ups as follows:
3A vs. 2B (Winner of this game plays 2A in Semis, loser plays 3B in Classification Playoff)
4A vs. 1B (Winner of this game plays 1A in Semis, loser plays 4B in Classification Playoff)

There are 2 Classification Playoff rounds. The losers of the first round play to determine 7th and 8th place in the second round, while the winners play for 5th and 6th place.

Semifinals match-ups as follows:
1A vs. W(4A vs. 1B)
2A vs. W(3A vs. 2B)

Once again the winners here will play for gold, while the losers battle for bronze.