The Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games starts today. In the tournament there are ten teams. There are two group of five teams each. There is a round robin followed by elimination games. China automatically qualified by being the host. This is their first ever time competing in ice hockey at the olympics. The other teams are the United States, Canada, Finland, ROC (Russia), Switzerland, Japan, the Czech Republic, Denmark, and Sweden.
Group A is the United States, Canada, Finland, ROC (Russia), and Switzerland. Group B is Japan, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Denmark and China. Wikipedia already has China coming in las in Group B. I don’t think that think that the United States and Canada should be in the same group. I don’t think it’s fair to either one of them that they are in the same group.
Below are the IIHF power rankings. USA is once again the favorite to win gold. Honestly this will be another chapter in the USA and Canada rivalry. I am confident that one of them will walk away with gold. Finland, Switzerland, ROC (Russia) are all in the race for a medal. I would have placed Japan at 9th. I am a little surprised they made the tournament. It’s good for Japan. They have been improving tremendously as a hockey nation and this shows that they are committed to becoming one of the top hockey nations in the world. China is in last in the power rankings. Thats not surprising. China put a team together but I do not think they will be competitive. They are lucky they wont have to play the United States or Canada. I could see them putting up 10 or more goals on china.
Here are the rosters. USA hockey fans should be familiar with some of the names.
The united states and Canada are the only teams to win gold in Women’s Ice Hockey at the olympics. Canada has four gold medals. The United States has two including the last one from 2016.
The Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games starts with a game between The Czech Republic and China. That game will be at 8pm PTS tonight. Canada and Switzerland will be playing at the same time tonight. I think Canada and the Czech Republic will win their games tonight. If Canada loses tonight, that would be the worst possible start for them. It could put them in a position where they struggle for the rest of the tournament.
Lastly check out these pads from the Chinese team.
Zac Electrifly 