Ice hockey at the Games of the Olympiad | |
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Venues | PalaItalia Fiera Milano |
Dates | 5–22 February |
No. of events | 2 (1 men and 1 women) |
Competitors | 530 |
The ice hockey competitions of the 2026 Winter Olympics will be played at two venues located in the Milan cluster: the PalaItalia and one of the Fiera Milano pavilions. At this edition of the games, for the first time since the 2010 Winter Olympics the size of the skating rinks will be 61-by-26-metre (200 ft × 85 ft) North American-sized rink instead of the IIHF rink mesures 60-by-30-metre (196.9 ft × 98.4 ft) . [1]
The men's tournament will have 12 teams competing, and the women's tournament 10. [2] Russia and Belarus are currently banned from competing in international championships through the IIHF's 2025 program due to their military aggression in Ukraine. [3] The decision on whether to expand the ban into 2026 has not been made yet the current ban has effectively disqualified Belarus from competing and may impact the championship further.
PalaItalia | Fiera Milano |
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PalaItalia | |
Milan | Milan |
The tournament will feature twelve countries, eight qualifying through the IIHF World Ranking, the host Italy, and three through qualifying tournaments. The format remains the same as the previous three Olympics; three groups of four compete in three games to determine seeding, each play every other team in their group, followed by four rounds of elimination games. Each group winner receives a bye into the second round, along with the highest ranked of the remaining teams. The remaining eight teams play an eliminating qualification game to advance to the quarter-final round. Each quarter-final winner advances to the semi-finals with the winners playing for the gold medal and the losers playing for the bronze.
On 2 February 2024, the IIHF announced that an agreement had been reached that National Hockey League (NHL) players would participate in the Olympics for the first time since 2014. The NHL was originally scheduled to compete in 2022 as well but opted out due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [4]
Qualification for the men's tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. The top eight will be joined the hosts and three qualifiers. [2]
The groups were established following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. [5] Qualifiers one, two, and three, are the winners of the final qualification tournaments. Their designation will be determined by their qualification seeding.
Group A | Group B | Group C |
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Ten countries will again compete in the women's tournament, six qualifying through the IIHF World Ranking, the host Italy, and three through qualifying tournaments.
Qualification for the women's tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics will be determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships. [2]
The groups will be established following the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships. Qualifiers one, two, and three, are the winners of the final qualification tournaments. Their designation will be determined by their qualification seeding.
Group A | Group B |
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Nations | Men | Women | Athletes |
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Canada | 48 | ||
Czech Republic | 48 | ||
Finland | 48 | ||
Germany | 25 | ||
Italy | 48 | ||
Russia [lower-alpha 1] | 48 | ||
Sweden | 25 | ||
Switzerland | 48 | ||
United States | 48 | ||
Total: 9 NOCs | 9 | 7 | 386 |
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Ice hockey tournaments have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1920. The men's tournament was introduced at the 1920 Summer Olympics and was transferred permanently to the Winter Olympic Games program in 1924, in France. The women's tournament was first held at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
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The IIHF World Ranking is a ranking of the performance of the national ice hockey teams of member countries of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It is based on a formula giving points for each team's placings at IIHF-sanctioned tournaments over the previous four years. The ranking is used to determine seedings and qualification requirements for future IIHF tournaments. The current leader in rankings is Canada in both men's and women's play.
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Qualification for the men's tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympics was determined through the IIHF World Ranking following the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. The top eight teams in the World Ranking received automatic berths into the Olympics, Italy received a berth as the host, while all other teams had an opportunity to qualify for the remaining three spots in the Olympics through qualifying tournaments.
Qualification for the women's tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2004 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships. The top four teams in the World Ranking received automatic berths into the Olympics, Italy received an automatic berth as host, and all other teams had an opportunity to qualify for the remaining three spots in the Olympics.
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Qualification for the men's tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2015 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. The host along with the top eight teams in the world ranking received automatic berths into the Olympics, while all other teams had an opportunity to qualify for the remaining three spots in the Olympics. This was the fourth time world rankings were used but the first time that the championships three years prior was used as the final determination.
Qualification for the men's tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2019 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. The host along with the top eight teams in the world ranking received automatic berths into the Olympics, while all other teams have an opportunity to qualify for the remaining three spots in the Olympics.
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Qualification for the women's tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2020 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships. The host along with the top six teams in the world ranking received automatic berths into the Olympics, while all other teams had an opportunity to qualify for the remaining three spots in the Olympics.
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Qualification for the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics will be determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships. The host along with the top six teams in the world ranking receive automatic berths into the Olympics, while all other teams have an opportunity to qualify for the remaining three spots. The participation of Russia is not yet confirmed and depends on if the team is allowed to return to the IIHF Championship program.