Olympic hockey tournament bracket set; USA, Canada on collision course
SOCHI, Russia – The medal round bracket for the 2014 Sochi Olympics is set, and a rematch of the last gold medal game can happen in the semifinals.
Sweden earned the top seed in the tournament when the Finns and Canada went to overtime on Sunday, as no one could match their nine points. Team USA finished second with eight points, by virtue of their goal differential. Canada took the No. 3 seed with their overtime win over Finland, who is the No. 4 seed.
That means Canada and the U.S. can meet in the semifinals, needing to go through each other to get back to the gold medal game. However, Canada might also have to play Jonas Hiller and the Swiss – the best defensive team in the tournament thus far – in the quarterfinals.
Finland, meanwhile, could face host Russia in the quarterfinals because of their OT loss.
Two qualification round matchups were set before the Canada vs. Finland game: Slovenia/Austria and Czech Republic/Slovakia, as those two rivals meet after shaky opening rounds. Russia faces Norway and Switzerland takes on Latvia in the other qualifying round games.
The medal round begins on Tuesday.
Bracket via Wikipedia.
