Latvia, Denmark and Slovakia are heading to the men’s Olympic hockey tournament. The three nations each won the qualifying tournaments they hosted that culminated on Sunday, granting them spots in the 12-team event in Milano Cortina in 2026.
In Riga, host Latvia swept aside France 5-2 on Sunday — despite the absence of its two NHL-calibre goalies — to clinch a trip to the Olympics for the seventh straight time. Instead of Arturs Silovs or Elvis Merzlikins, the Latvians turned to former Lightning draft pick Kristers Gudlevskis to tend the net and he delivered. The 32-year-old won all three of his starts, posting a .913 save percentage and 1.67 goals-against average as his team went undefeated.
In Aalborg, the host Danes were down 1-0 just 26 seconds into the game when Minnesota Wild forward Mats Zuccarello scooped up a Frederik Andersen rebound in the slot and buried it past the Carolina Hurricanes goalie for the lead.
The hard-working Norwegians immediately dropped back into a defensive stance, rarely sending in more than a lone forecheck when Denmark had strong possession. When they did send numbers, they played physical and managed to out-shoot their hosts.
But a fortunate play finally led to Denmark’s first goal 16 minutes into the second period when Nicklas Jensen fired one top shelf over the shoulder of Norwegian goalie Henrik Haukeland. Less than two minutes later, Jansen had another, this time on the power play off a pass from Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers.
The floodgates were open then, with former Oiler Patrick Russell scoring a pair in the third period en route to a 4-1 Denmark win. The trip to Milano Cortina will be just Denmark’s second men’s Olympic hockey tournament.
Lastly, Slovakia completed its sweep of the qualifier in Bratislava with a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan. Goalie Samuel Hlavaj, who signed a two-year deal with the Wild in the spring, had to make just 12 saves in the win. Pavol Regenda, Adam Liška, and Róbert Lantoši scored for Slovakia, which was without star Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky and veteran Lightning defenceman Erik Cernak.
The victory ensured the 2022 bronze medallists from Beijing have a chance to ascend the podium once more, though the presence of NHLers in 2026 will make that a bit more difficult.
What remains to be seen is whether the International Ice Hockey Federation rescinds the ban on Russia (due to its invasion and war in Ukraine) and allows it to compete in 2026, a decision that has been deferred until February. If not Russia, one of the the runners-up from these three qualifiers will get a belated invitation to the Olympics.
Kazakhstan, Norway and France all finished with two wins and a loss, though the French have the best goal differential of the three at plus-6.