The men’s Olympic ice hockey tournament’s group stage is now over, and the focus is now on the qualifying round and then the quarterfinals.
Team USA went a perfect 3-0-0 in the group stage, joining Canada as the only countries to go undefeated. Yet, the USA finished as the second seed, due to Canada having a better goal differential, and it comes with a much harder quarterfinal matchup.
Team USA will now play the winner of Sweden vs. Denmark in the qualifying round in their quarter-final matchup.
Sweden will be a tough test for the United States, as although they had some struggles in the group stage, many viewed them as the third-best country entering the tournament.
Luckily, by the USA getting the bye, they don’t have to play again until Wednesday, while Sweden will have to play Denmark on Tuesday and then play Team USA on a back-to-back, assuming the Swedes win.
Sweden is filled with NHL talent of Gabriel Landeskog, William Nylander, Victor Hedman, Lucas Raymond, and Filip Forsberg, among others.
The start time for Team USA’s quarterfinals game against the winner of Denmark-Sweden hasn’t been announced yet.
Mike Sullivan Liked USA’s Play
The United States beat Germany 5-1 on Sunday, and head coach Mike Sullivan liked his team’s efforts.
Sullivan felt like it was the team’s most complete game and something they could build on in the quarters.
“I thought it was our most complete game of the tournament,” Sullivan said postgame. “That was certainly an important win for us and we’ll take tomorrow off to recover and get ready for our quarterfinal game.”
Entering the game, Sullivan was expecting a competitive match, but it was far from it.
“They’re a good team. So are we,” Sullivan said pregame. “We’re excited to compete against them. We know that they have some gamebreakers on that side. We have a lot of respect for how good they are, and it will be a competitive game.”
Luckily, the USA dominated Germany for a lopsided win to enter the quarters on a high note. Yet, Sweden will likely await in what will easily be USA’s toughest matchup this Olympics.
Team USA Entered Tournament With Gold-or-Bust Mentality
With NHL players back at the Olympics, Team USA entered with plenty of hype and promise.
USA and Canada were the two favorites to win it all. Ater losing the 4 Nations, USA defenseman Zach Werenski made it clear that the team is solely focused on winning gold.
“It is unique, for sure,” said Zach Werenski. “But I think that’s a good thing. I think it just proves how far USA Hockey has come, and how we feel about it. Now it’s time to win. We have a lot of high-end NHL talent — superstars. But we haven’t won in a long time, so it’s time now for the U.S. to finally win a gold medal.”
Team USA has looked impressive through the group stage. However, their three opponents of Germany, Denmark, and Latvia are not top teams. So USA’s first true test could very well come in the quarters against Sweden.
Who Will Team USA Play in Quarters After Winning Group C?