The Men’s and Women’s tournaments are already heading for a fever pitch as the Semifinals are set for the women’s game, and the Men are set for a qualifer clash!

Let’s get after it!

Semifinal Game 1: Sweden vs. USA – A Game of Tests

The Swedes got here out of the kind of rock solid game they’ve been bringing all tournament meeting the Czechs, and through 60 minutes of solid hockey from bell-to-bell-to-bell, they managed to get a shutout from Ebba Svensson-Traff and two excellent goals off of Hilda Svensson and Hanna Olsson; a major feather in the cap of the Damen League, the fruits it’s born, and the rise of the Swedish program from the relative obscurity it’s been cursed with for years. The Damen are finally back to make some noise.

Meanwhile, the US got here by doing a series of Mortal Kombat fatalities to Italy. Italy managed exactly six shots on goal against Aerin Frankel.

Million different pathways and all that.

Really, this is two teams who could use a good test; The Swedes haven’t done this well in women’s competition in years and are now in position to potentially medal for the first time since 2006, and they need to see where they really are in the grand scheme of things if they want to continue to build as a program against the shining star of the Women’s game. Meanwhile, the United States’ needs to see how they handle the unknown; neither side has seen each other yet this Olympics, and so a rising team that’s also a relative unknown to them ought to be the perfect look at where their effort level should be to get into the Gold Medal game.

Semifinal Game 2: Canada vs. Switzerland – Round 2, Fight!

So last time these two teams met, MPP was out of the lineup and Switzerland kept it close for a comically long time…right up until they started taking penalties. Switzerland seems to have the idea that if they can keep the events in the game as low as possible, they can exploit the issues that Canada has been bringing to the table in terms of speed and cohesiveness (something exacerbated by coaches getting a little too cute). This was not a bad strategy to be frank, it was one that however required the Swiss offense, which lives and dies through Boston Fleet forward Alina Muller, to find anyone that was open at all, something she frequently could not do.

Now, MPP, Canada’s ace in the hole forward, is in the lineup. Canada is still piecing themselves together after the asskicking they took from the States, and they have been routinely dropping 5 goals on teams who dare to not be on their level. They may be a bit long in the tooth, but having Poulin back still gives them a stinging edge that makes them much, much scarier than you might expect.

Unless the Swiss manage to get double digit shots, I sincerely don’t expect them to come out of this alive for anything but a shot at Bronze.

The Prelims are over, and those teams who have made their way to the Quarterfinal bye are as follows:

USA

The US is definitely what we expected; extremely talented and their stars are coming in to meet the moment. But DON’T THINK I DIDN’T SEE THAT DENMARK GAME. THAT S#!T WASN’T ALL SWAYMAN GETTING CAUGHT, THEY SHOWED YOU THEY’RE CAPABLE OF A STINKER IF NOT PROPERLY PRESSED. YOU ARE ON NOTICE UNTIL YOU GET TO THE GOLD MEDAL GAME, YOU HEAR ME!? YOU ARE TOO TALENTED TO DO THAT.

Canada

Canada sleepwalked to their bye because they have three different flavors of the “I Win” button that they can just press every so often. They’re as finely tuned an engine as you would expect them to be, and watching all of those talented players find their groove together has been an absolute joy. Really, the only question coming out of prelims is…what the hell did France do to you, Canada?

Finland

I gotta hand it to you, Finland. I thought for sure you were gonna be down where Sweden is right now. I figured you wouldn’t recover from not having Sasha Barkov, that Slovakia game would break your spirit, and you just lurch into Quarters to get killed. But you rebounded huge, beat your neighbor convincingly, then put the home team into a blender! Full credit to rolling through a bad hand and getting here! You might even get to go to Semis depending on who you draw! That’s house money for you, baby!

Slovakia

Man, Juraj Slafkovsky is something else. Of course, he’s not the only one there, so it has to count for something that the Slovaks really didn’t actually miss any time together as a national unit, as outside of a loss to Sweden, they look pretty damn good as a unit, even if their limiting factors in goal means they’re pretty much destined to keep doing tight games until they hit a team that’s got more talent than they do.

Qualifier 1: Germany vs. France – Leon vs. The World

Well, if nothing else, this game will be short!

That’s all I got. The Germans are just more talented than France. That’s just about all there is to it. Even if Philipp Grubauer developed Grubauer symptoms again they could just score their way out of it. Might not work every time, but it’ll work against France.

Qualifier 2: Switzerland vs. Italy – Do it for Kevin

The Swiss have won their games by largely crushing the other team with possession and letting their NHL guys do their thing, which is a real problem because now they’re down one Kevin Fiala, who will not be returning to the ice after getting surgery in Milan. That gives them a dangerous edge of a recent motivator to go deep, and for Italy, who sure participated in this tournament as “team getting dunked on”, that bodes very ill for them.

Also I’d keep your trash talk to yourselves, Italy. There’s a pretty good chance someone on your opponent’s side can understand it.

Qualifier 3: Czechia vs. Denmark – Make-up Credits

Czechia probably feels like they shouldn’t be here. But here they are anyway.

After winning a game they should, and then losing a game they should, the Czechs played Switzerland to Overtime, where they lost. It was also way, way, way tighter of a game than I think the Czechs were expecting to play, and so now they need to play Denmark in order to keep their dreams alive.

Denmark meanwhile has played the role of gatekeeper; the teams who are obviously better than them have beaten them handily (at least on paper. Looking at you; USA.), and they escaped a much harder working Latvia to come away with a win. Czechia, at least on paper, is more talented than them…with the noted exception of goal, where Lukas Dostal has been a major disappointment. Frederik Andersen is due to remember he’s playing in a game that counts and is thus prone to self-destruction, but if he can keep the game close, then the Czechs could be in for a rough ride.

Still should beat them. It’s just gonna be a nightmarishly closer game than it should be.

Qualifier 4: Sweden vs. Latvia – Saving Face

Sweden has some ‘splaining to do.

Latvia we understand. They work their ass off because they know their ceiling is much lower than a lot of the other teams around them. Didn’t quite work against the US, worked against Germany, and it could’ve worked against Denmark if their goaltending hadn’t let them down at a crucial moment. That’s pretty standard for Latvia. We get Latvia.

Sweden meanwhile…probably shouldn’t be here? Maybe?

Sweden has a record on-par with Finland and Slovakia, but it feels like dropping into qualifiers was an opportunity missed. It’s not like Sweden has struggled or anything, it’s just, for whatever reason…they never seemed to have that win that felt like they were clearly a program of hockey royalty. Italy got a pair off of them, Slovakia came away from their game having won the group in spite of losing by two goals, and it seems like their eternal rival next door got a major shot in the arm from beating them.

The time may have come for Sweden to finally put the kibosh on any doubt the prelims conjured, and that means looking at everyone’s favorite underdog nation and doing something nasty to ‘em.

How are the Kraken doing at this tourney?

Finland

Kaapo Kakko saw the issues that Finland had; missing some of their best players, watching historic strengths become weaknesses, and met the moment. He’s been a firecracker for the Finns with 4 points in 3 games. That’s tied for team lead with Joel Armia, Mikko Rantanen, and Artturi Lehkonen!

Eeli Tolvanen only has one goal, but he was Finland’s only goal in their loss to Slovakia.

Germany

Philipp Grubauer only ever had to show up to the tournament as the 2026 version of himself to make Germany proud, and to his credit, he has done exactly that. In a pair of games played, he’s logged a .917 SV% and 55 saves!

How are the Torrent doing at this tourney?

USA

Alex Carpenter is fast becoming a major part of the American fabric of offense, because she’s got 6 points in 5 games.

If this is really it for Hilary Knight at the Olympic games as she’s stated in the past, then she’s made it clear she’s going out with a performance for the ages; she’s logged 5 points in 5 games.

Hannah Bilka leads the United States in all goalscoring with 4 goals in 5 games, and 5 points in that time!

Cayla Barnes has been defending well, though no points have come her way as of yet. Given the games Team USA plays, it seems inevitable she’ll get one before the tournament’s over.

Canada

Team Canada has been in a weird place this tournament, but Julia Gosling isn’t letting any of the doubt on this team get to her; she’s got 5 points in 5 games!

Czechia

Regretfully, Aneta Tejralová‘s tournament has come to an end in the quarterfinals against Sweden. She had no points in the 5 games she played. Oh well, Milan’s still pretty cool to visit!

Good luck to all Kraken and Torrent still playing, and GO FOR GOLD!