Showing Some International Love: 2018 Olympic Qualification Round 2 - Group J Preview

The tournament was almost over before it started, as Japan and Ukraine never gave up a goal until they faced each other in the final day. The host would win out in that matchup, as Japan got by Ukraine The other end of the table saw the goalless Croatia go up against goalless Romania for third place. Both teams would get their first of the tournament, but Croatia added their second, third, and fourth, en route to the win and a third place finish. Romania ends up in last place.

Note: Most information from the IIHF website.

Standings

Team	Wins	OTW/SOW	OTL/SOL	Losses	Points	Goal Diff.
Japan	3	0	0	0	9	+11
Ukraine	2	0	0	1	6	+8
Croatia	1	0	0	2	3	-6
Romania	0	0	0	3	0	-13

Results

February 11
Ukraine 3 - Romania 0
Croatia 0 - Japan  3

February 13
Ukraine 6 - Croatia 0
Japan 7 - Romania 0

February 14
Romania 1 - Croatia 4
Japan 2 - Ukraine 1

Notes

• Goals Leader: Artem Gnidenko (Ukraine), Yuri Petrangovsky (Ukraine), Shuhei Kuji (Japan), Daisuke Obara (Japan), Yuto Osawa (Japan) - 2
• Points Leader: Daisuke Obara (Japan) - 5
• GAA Leader: Yutaka Fukufuji (Japan) - 0.50
• Save % Leader: Eduard Zakharchenko (Ukraine) - 97.59
• The "No Surprise" Game: What happened the first two days
• The "Upset" Game: None

What Now?

Japan: The win puts Japan in a group with Latvia, Germany, and Austria in the final qualifying round come September. But before that, Japan will travel to Poland to play in the World Championship Division IA tournament.

Ukraine: Ukraine's Olympic dreams are now over, as they now look forward to the World Championship. Being relegated last year, they will partake in the Division IB tournament that will be held in Croatia.

Croatia: A young group gained some experience from this tournament. They will now look to build on it in April, when they host the World Championship Division IB tournament.

Romania: Another young team gained some experience, but ended the tournament with only one goal. The bright side is that a promotion last year puts them in the World Championship Division IB tournament, where they can try to take the rematch against Croatia.