Now the real fun begins. The group stage of the men's Olympic hockey tournament concluded on Sunday with the United States' 5-1 win over Germany. It made for a nice re-introduction to NHLers playing in the Olympics, and there were some good games for sure, but now it's time for the single-elimination knockout round.
The Americans won Group C with a perfect 3-0-0 record and will be the No. 2 seed for the knockout round, slotting behind Canada (also 3-0-0) due to a goal differential tiebreaker (Canada was +17, USA +11). The U.S., Canada, Slovakia and Finland all earned byes to the quarterfinals, while teams 5 through 12 will play a "qualification round" game to advance to the final eight.
Here is the seeding as the knockout round begins:
1. Canada
2. USA
3. Slovakia
4. Finland
5. Switzerland
6. Germany
7. Sweden
8. Czechia
9. Denmark
10. Latvia
11. France
12. Italy
The qualification round games will be played on Tuesday, the quarterfinals on Wednesday, the semifinals on Friday, the bronze medal game on Saturday, and the gold medal game on Sunday.
In the quarterfinals, the U.S. will face the winner of the 7 vs. 10 matchup between Sweden and Latvia. There is no reseeding until the semifinals. The U.S. and Canada would not meet until a gold or (less likely) bronze medal game.
Here's a look at how the Bruins' eight Olympians are doing now that the group stage is complete:
USA
Charlie McAvoy had an injury scare right before the Olympics thanks to an elbow to the head from Florida's Sandis Vilmanis, a blow that caused McAvoy's recovering jaw to swell up again. Fortunately for McAvoy, the Bruins and Team USA, he was cleared to return to that game and then travel to Milan as planned.
McAvoy has been rock solid so far while playing with Quinn Hughes on the Americans' top defense pair, serving as the safety net that allows Hughes to consistently jump into the play offensively, something he does as well as pretty much any defenseman in the world.
McAvoy, who is serving as an alternate captain, doesn't have a point, but he also hasn't been on the ice for a single goal against, and he's been a big part of a U.S. penalty kill that is a perfect 9-for-9. He is second on the team in ice time behind only Hughes, averaging 19:18 per game.
Jeremy Swayman started Team USA's second game against Denmark, a clear sign that he had leapfrogged Jake Oettinger on the depth chart. The Americans did win that game, 6-3, but Swayman struggled. The Danes' second goal was a Nick Jensen shot from center ice that somehow beat Swayman clean. Blame the dark boards or the weird sightlines of the rink if you want – Swayman said he straight-up lost the puck – but regardless, you just can't give up a goal like that in the Olympics. The third goal, a slap shot from the blue line, wasn't good either, although it looked like Swayman was screened by teammate J.T. Miller on that one.
Connor Hellebuyck started the Americans' other two games and has a .952 save percentage, so the guess here is that head coach Mike Sullivan will just ride Hellebuyck the rest of the way unless the reigning Vezina and Hart Trophy winner gives him a reason not to. Even if that happens, it's probably Oettinger up next, not Swayman. Oettinger backed up Hellebuyck on Sunday, with Swayman demoted to third-string.
Czechia
It was a disappointing group stage for David Pastrnak and the Czechs, who got blown out by Canada (5-0) to start and lost to Switzerland in overtime (4-3) to finish. They did beat France 6-3 in between, but even that was a tougher game than anticipated, as they were losing halfway through before scoring four unanswered goals.
Pastrnak has a goal and two assists, including an assist on Martin Necas' late tying goal against Switzerland on Sunday to force overtime. That's decent, and Pastrnak has created more chances that have gone unrewarded, but the fact is the Czechs will need more from Pastrnak, their No. 1 star, in the knockout round if they're going to have any chance to make some noise.
This is a team that entered the tournament with medal aspirations, but now faces an uphill battle as the eight-seed. They'll face Denmark in the qualification round, but would then meet the juggernaut that is Canada in the quarterfinals if they advance.
There's no way to know how much of a difference he might have made, but it is certainly fair to say that the Czechs miss Pavel Zacha, who was ruled out just before the tournament due to an upper-body injury he suffered in the Bruins' Jan. 29 game against the Flyers. Zacha would have been a top-six fixture for the Czechs and played big minutes in all situations.
Sweden
It was arguably an even more disappointing group stage for Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm and the Swedes. They entered the Olympics as the bronze medal favorites, the clear No. 3 team on paper behind Canada and the U.S., but now enter the knockout stage as the seven-seed after finishing third in a three-way tiebreak with Slovakia and Finland. Their 4-1 loss to archrival Finland ultimately doomed them in said tiebreak.
Elias Lindholm played the first two games against Italy and Finland and slotted into a top-six role to start, but struggled to produce much of anything, with no points, one shot on goal and a minus-2 rating. His ice time nosedived in the Finland game, and then he was a scratch for the group stage finale against Slovakia (which Sweden won 5-3).
Hampus Lindholm, meanwhile, was a scratch for the first two games. He dressed against Slovakia, but did not play a single shift.
If you gave them truth serum, the Bruins might not be all that disappointed to see two players who have battled injuries this season used sparingly in this tournament. Nonetheless, it's disappointing for the players themselves to not have a bigger role.
Finland
Another case of sparse usage here. Henri Jokiharju has played all three games, but is averaging just 6:13 time on ice as either the sixth or seventh defenseman. He did record an assist in Saturday's 11-0 win over Italy.
Joonas Korpisalo, meanwhile, has dressed as the backup goalie for two games, but it's been Juuse Saros playing every minute in the Finland net.
The Finns finished second in Group B and will be seeded fourth for the knockout round, which is huge because it means they get the final bye to the quarterfinals. They will face the winner of No. 5 Switzerland vs. No. 12 Italy.
Latvia
Speaking of Latvia, Bruins prospect Dans Locmelis played a huge role in their lone win of the group stage, scoring a pair of power-play goals in a 4-3 victory over Germany on Saturday. The first was an easy tap-in. The second was an absolute snipe from the right circle.
Unfortunately for Latvia, they lost their other two games, 5-1 to the United States and 4-2 to Denmark. They now enter the knockout round as the 10-seed, and will be sizable underdogs against Sweden in the qualification round. If they do find a way to pull off the upset, they'd get a rematch with the Americans in the quarterfinals.
For Locmelis, though, it was another moment of stepping up on the international stage. The 22-year-old forward was Latvia's leading goal-scorer at the World Championships last year, and earned some kudos from none other than Sidney Crosby. He also helped Latvia win bronze at the 2023 World Championships, the country's first-ever medal in any IIHF competition.
Locmelis, who played two years of college hockey at UMass, has 28 points (15g, 13a) in 43 games for the Providence Bruins this year in his first full professional season. It will be interesting to see if/when Locmelis gets his first look in Boston. He certainly seems to have a knack for elevating against tougher competition.