Olympic hockey bracket set as Team USA earns #1 seed

by Dirk Hoag on Feb 22, 2010 2:21 AM EST

Note: This article was written at the end of the round-robin portion of the tournament, but I've updated the bracket below with the latest results!

As the round-robin portion of the 2010 Olympic mens hockey tournament drew to a close with Sweden's 3-0 win over Finland, the elimination bracket that leads to the gold medal is finally set.

With 12 teams in the tournament, upon completion of the round-robin they will be ranked 1-12, and placed in a single-elimination bracket that will play out over the course of the week. The top four teams all earn a bye into the quarterfinal round. On Tuesday, however, the other 8 teams will play for the right to join them; and all but one of those matchups is now set.

Follow after the jump for a look at the bracket as it stands so far...

Thanks to their 5-3 triumph over Canada, Team USA has earned a bye into the quarterfinals, and as the tournament's #1 seed, the preferred schedule on the road to a possible gold medal game (three of the pre-tournament gold medal favorites, Sweden, Canada and Russia, are all on the other side of the bracket). Sweden was the only other team to make it through the round-robin with a 3-0 record, but the Americans had the better goal differential to snag the top spot.

The surprising development here is that Canada will have to win 4 games from here on in to win the gold medal, and while they are expected to beat Germany handily on Tuesday, it should be noted that all the Quarterfinal Games will be played on Wednesday, against rested teams that will have the opportunity to practice and observe their upcoming opponent. In Canada's case, that means a date with Russia, in what will likely be a sensational game.

Coming up on Tuesday, we'll have #8 Switzerland vs. #9 Belarus in what should be a tight battle, #7 Slovakia which should be heavily favored over #10 Norway, and #12 Latvia against the #5 Czech Republic.

2010 Olympic Mens Hockey Bracket
Playoff Qualifier 1	Quarterfinal 1
#8 Switzerland	#1 USA
#9 ~~Belarus~~	#8 ~~Switzerland~~	Semifinal 1
Playoff Qualifier 2	Quarterfinal 2	#1 USA	Gold Medal
#5 Czech Republic	#4 Finland	#4 ~~Finland~~	#1 USA
#12 ~~Latvia~~	#5 ~~Czech Republic~~		#6 Canada
Playoff Qualifier 3	Quarterfinal 3
#7 Slovakia	#2 ~~Sweden~~		Bronze Medal
#10 ~~Norway~~	#7 Slovakia	Semifinal 2	#4 Finland
Playoff Qualifier 4	Quarterfinal 4	#7 ~~Slovakia~~	#7 Slovakia
#6 Canada W 8-2	#3 ~~Russia~~	#6 Canada
#11 ~~Germany~~	#6 Canada

Bronze Medal Game: Saturday, February 27

Gold Medal Game: Sunday, February 28

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Comments

A little addition

I believe Russia is already locked into the #3 seed. So if Canada beats Germany, they get a rested Russian team IN THE QUARTERFINALS.

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by Matt Reitz on Feb 21, 2010 11:17 PM EST reply actions

And that also means one of Canada or Russia will not be medal in these Games.

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by Travis Hughes on Feb 21, 2010 11:18 PM EST up reply actions

what a massive dissappointment for one of those teams

by golfballs03 on Feb 22, 2010 3:00 PM EST up reply actions

I’m not sure about that. If Finland loses in OT, they’d tie Russia in points but have a better goal differential, leaving Sweden and the US 1-2, with Finland #3 and Russia #4, right?

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by Dirk Hoag on Feb 21, 2010 11:21 PM EST up reply actions

Scractch that, I see since they won their group they get #3

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by Dirk Hoag on Feb 21, 2010 11:21 PM EST up reply actions

I LOVED!!

last night’s game. now i was wanting to know who do ya’ll think has the better team between Canada and Russia?.

by bluegrassbaby on Feb 22, 2010 9:54 AM EST reply actions

#1 USA indeed.

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by jordanDC on Feb 22, 2010 10:51 AM EST reply actions

thanks for stopping by

Who does everyone think is the gold favorite now?

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by Chris Burton on Feb 22, 2010 11:04 AM EST up reply actions

I really like USA’s chances. They’ve looked better each game this tournament and I think the day off will serve them well. I see them going to the Gold Medal game where they will be playing Russia.

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by zephyr on Feb 22, 2010 11:55 AM EST up reply actions

USA

Nobody faces an easier road to gold. They first face Swiss or Belarus, then probably Czechs, then they’re in the final. The other favourites (Swe, Can, Russia) have to face off against each other at some point, which is going to wear them out.

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by DarrenM on Feb 22, 2010 12:14 PM EST up reply actions

After US beat Canada the favorites are in doubt. I’m glad I’m not a betting man. With Canada battling Russia to get to a medal game that could take a lot out of the winning team and potentially their chances of playing their best game.

With USA beating Canada in pool play they have leveled the playing fields. It would be really hard to say that the USA would win if they played again for a medal. Therefore you have to think that there really is no favorite at this point. You have a bunch of teams that you can point to and say that they can win gold whereas everyone was picking Canada without a second thought before the tourny started. I don’t call the US the favorites because they survived 1st and 3rd period onslaughts from the Canadians that could have easily gone the other direction if it had not been for sound positioning and willingness to sacrafice on some of those shots.

Hopefully the US keeps their head about them for their next game. I greatly enjoyed watching a team with as much heart as the US played with last night and I hope they carry that to the end.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

by metalcoconut on Feb 22, 2010 12:40 PM EST up reply actions

Miller was the show

I can’t believe the number of excellent scoring opps that Canada had and Miller’s ability to retain composure when the heat was on.

While the upside is more Canada hockey the downside for me is that my Semi Final tix won’t be for the Canada bracket. Any USA citizens who find themselves equally mixed up (seeing semi final 2 now the Canada bracket) should comment below and we can swap!

by RNRVan on Feb 22, 2010 3:09 PM EST reply actions

The Czechs won the gold in 1998

This is a nice little post….but the past gold medalist (since NHLers were included) are the Czech Republic 1998, Canada 2002, Sweden 2006. Might want to fix that.

by jkarnosky on Feb 22, 2010 8:51 PM EST reply actions