The Beijing Olympic Winter Games are right around the corner. A handful of teams, though, are still fighting to earn their tickets.
Olympic qualifying is under way, with twelve teams battling for three spots. Here are the teams and the officials in action!
Group D – Bratislava, Slovakia
Teams: Slovakia, Belarus, Austria, Poland
Referees:
Andris Ansons #10 (LAT)
Riku Brander #11 (FIN)
Roy Stian Hansen #17 (NOR)
Linus Ohlund #16 (SWE)
Michael Tscherrig #18 (SUI)
Linesmen:
Daniel Hynek #25 (CZE)
Andreas Weise Kroyer #28 (DEN)
Jonas Merten #26 (GER)
Jiri Ondracek #20 (CZE)
Davis Zunde #27 (LAT)
Officiating Coaches:
Pavel Halas (CZE)
Greg Kimmerly (CAN)
Group E – Riga, Latvia
Teams: Latvia, France, Italy, Hungary
Referees:
Geoffrey Barcelo #16 (FRA)
Lassi Heikkinen #17 (FIN)
Christoffer Holm #12 (SWE)
Peter Stano #15 (SVK)
Sergey Yudakov #18 (RUS)
Linesmen:
Knut Elnar Braten #27 (NOR)
Nicolas Constantineau #25 (FRA)
Ludvig Lundgren #20 (SWE)
David Obwegeser #28 (SUI)
Simon Synek #22 (SVK)
Officiating Coaches:
Rob Shick (USA)
Joel Hansson (SWE)
Tomas Torsbrink (SWE)
Group F – Oslo, Norway
Teams: Norway, Denmark, Slovenia, South Korea
Referees:
Mads Frandsen #16 (DEN)
Mikko Kaukokari #18 (FIN)
Andre Schrader #15 (GER)
Maxim Sidorenko #11 (BLR)
Christoph Sternat #12 (AUT)
Linesmen:
Dmitry Golyak #25 (BLR)
Lauri Nikulainen #28 (FIN)
Simon Riecken #27 (AUT)
Dmitry Shishlo #22 (RUS)
Alexander Waldejer #26 (NOR)
Officiating Coaches:
Scott Zelkin (USA)
Jukka Pakaslahti (FIN)
Each team will play three games to determine a group winner, with games taking place August 26-29. The winner of each group will join the teams already qualified for the games: Canada, China, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
“We are fortunate that we still have some time to play these tournaments,,” said IIHF president René Fasel, back in May, when the events were originally scheduled. “A move to August 2021 will still allow these teams to be able to ice their best players.”
Good luck to the teams – and the officials!
The officiating crew for the 2022 Beijing Winter Games has not yet been announced.
