Ice hockey at the Beijing Winter Olympics: groups, schedule, favorites

Created: 01/12/2022, 4:57 PM

Pyeongchang 2018: Ice hockey women Finland - team "Olympic athletes from Russia" © VESA MOILANEN / dpa

Both male and female ice hockey teams strive for precious metal at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

There are twelve national teams for men and ten for women.

Beijing - Ice hockey has been Olympic since 1920 and is one of the oldest disciplines in the competition.

For a long time ice hockey was a male domain, but since 1998 women have also been hunting for hard rubber discs.

For the men, the teams from Canada and Russia are the most successful.

They each won nine Olympic gold.

The German men achieved one silver and two bronze medals.

In the women’s race, the USA will be the defending champions.

Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics: the sport

The sport of ice hockey is part of the regular competition program at the 2022 Winter Olympics. It is a team sport in which each team sends six players on the ice. The playing area is completely surrounded by a board that also acts as a boundary for the playing field. During the 60-minute match, the teams try to maneuver a hard rubber disc, the so-called puck, into the opposing goal with a baton. Since ice hockey is a body-hugging sport, all active players are provided with helmets and padding.

Ice hockey has been officially mentioned since the 19th century, although it can be assumed that it was practiced earlier.

Especially where no refrigeration machines were needed to produce artificial ice.

This is particularly true in the regions of Northern Europe and North America.

It is not for nothing that the most successful ice hockey nations are based here.

All nations are subordinate to the world association.

The International Ice Hockey Federation, which acts as an umbrella organization, has existed since 1908. Its headquarters are in Zurich.

Ice Hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics: Competitions

There will be two ice hockey competitions at the 2022 Winter Olympics: the men's and the women's competition.

Twelve national teams take part in the men's competition.

The women are represented by ten national teams.

Decisive for the qualification were the world ranking position as well as the performance in the qualifying tournaments.

Traditionally, the host did not have to qualify, but is automatically part of the final round.

In 2022, this means that the men and women of the People's Republic of China will be able to compete with the major ice hockey nations.

Ice hockey at the Olympic Winter Games 2022: the dates

The ice hockey dates for the 2022 Winter Olympics are broken down by gender. While the women complete their finals between February 3rd and 17th, 2022, the men will be active from February 9th to 20th. Two arenas are used: the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing and the Wukesong Indoor Stadium. They each have 18,000 seats and have been in existence since 2008, when Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics. The first game of the German national ice hockey team will take place on February 10, 2022. At 2:10 p.m. (CET), the Germans will meet Canada. Two days later, they duel with host China, and finally face the United States on February 13th. The German women, on the other hand, are only spectators, as they failed to qualify for the Olympic tournament.

Ice hockey at the Olympic Winter Games 2022: favorites

The circle of favorites at the Olympic Winter Games 2022 includes the "usual suspects" in the ice hockey section.

For the men, in addition to the teams from Canada and the USA, the puck hunters from Sweden and Finland have to be taken into account.

The Russians can also be expected to do a lot.

It doesn't look much different with women.

The North American parliamentary group opposes claims for medals from Finland and Russia.

Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics: TV broadcast

The TV broadcast of the 2022 Winter Olympics includes ice hockey coverage.

In addition to Eurosport, ARD and ZDF are on the air.

Analog TV broadcasts are complemented by live streams.

Note the time difference between Asia and Europe.

Beijing is seven hours ahead of Central European Time.

This is why broadcasts in Germany begin during the night and usually end in the afternoon.