On Wednesday February 14, the puck will drop for the opening games of the 2018 Olympic men’s hockey tournament, as Slovakia takes on (Not)Russia and the USA takes faces off against Slovenia. We may not be getting NHLers this time around, but that is likely to make for a much more compelling tournament. Though (Not)Russia is the presumed favorite, the field for this tournament is far more wide open that we have see over the past few Olympic games.
The Tournament
The tournament consists of three groups with four teams each. Each team will compete in three preliminary round games (one against every other team in their group) before advancing to a four-round single elimination portion of the tournament.