Each team won all three of its qualification round games on home ice to secure a spot.
WATCH ABOVE: The organizers of the 2022 Beijing Olympics expressed "regret" on Thursday after the National Hockey League announced on Wednesday that it would not allow its players to compete at the Winter Games because of disruption to the league schedule caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – Dec 23, 2021
On Sunday, Denmark beat Norway 4-1; Slovakia defeated Kazakhstan 3-1 and Latvia cruised past France 5-2.Denmark’s Lars Ellers, left, faces England’s Robert Dowd during the ice hockey Olympic qualification match between Denmark and Great Britain in Aalborg, Denmark, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024.The biggest question remains whether Russia will be allowed by the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation to compete given the country’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Denmark loaded up with NHL talent, getting permission from teams to have goaltender Frederik Andersen from Carolina and forwards Nikolaj Ehlers from Winnipeg and Lars Eller from Pittsburgh in the lineup. Anderson stopped 60 of the 64 shots he faced, while Ehlers and Eller each had four points, including an assist apiece in the win-and-get-in game against Norway.
Slovakia qualified and will get a chance to defend the bronze medal won in Beijing in 2022 despite being without three of its top players: Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky, Tampa Bay’s Erik Cernak and Washington’s Martin Fehervary. Calgary’s Martin Pospisil was among the leading scorers in the group with three points, and goaltender Samuel Hlavaj, who recently signed with Minnesota and is expected to begin with the Wild’s top minor league affiliate, made 65 saves on 70 shots.
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