Canada to play China right after beating China in Olympic men's hockey
After Canada picked up a commanding 5-0 victory in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament against China on Sunday, Canada is set to play China again in their next game.
No, you didn’t read that wrong.
Canada finished fifth, while China finished 12th in the Olympic hockey standings, where all teams in the tournament advanced to the playoffs.
With the top four teams receiving a bye and no rules against facing off against your group in the playoffs again, an oddity was realized where the two teams will face off just two days later in the first playoff round.
A time for the matchup is yet to be determined.
China’s roster actually features 10 Canadians in their first appearance in men’s hockey at the Olympic level.
On paper, the upcoming rematch is a large mismatch. China scored just two goals in its three round robin games, while conceding 16.
Canada, meanwhile, scored 12 goals while allowing five, four of which came in a loss against the United States.
In Sunday’s match, Canada scored goals from Ben Street, Adam Tambellini, Kent Johnson, Eric O’Dell, and Corban Knight to cruise to a win.
The winner for the second game will take on Sweden in the quarterfinal, set for a day later on February 16. Sweden finished second in Group C, but finished one point higher than Canada by way of an overtime loss.
Out of the four other games in the first round of the playoffs, one other – Czech Republic and Switzerland are coming from the same round robin group.
In other action, Denmark takes on Latvia, while Slovakia takes on Germany. Along with Sweden, group winners United States, Finland, and ROC have received byes to the quarterfinal stage.
- You might also like:
- Speed skater Steven Dubois wins his second medal of Beijing Olympics