Showing Some International Love: 2018 Olympic Final Qualification - Group F Review

It was a close group, even the needing-to-qualify Italians played close games in this group. The host Norwegians were the ones standing in the end, needing a late powerplay goal against France to win the tournament. When French goalie Cristobal Huet was 40, he was on a two game winning streak. But time catches us all, and when he turned 41, he was not the same (kidding, he was the best goaltender of the tournament). Despite the good goaltending, France could not hang on, and saw their Olympic hopes slip away against Norway. Kazakhstan had a shot at qualifying, but ultimately ended up in third place. Italy finished in fourth place.

Note: Most information from the fancy IIHF website.

Standings

Team	Wins	OTW/SOW	OTL/SOL	Losses	Points	Goal Diff.
Norway	2	0	1	0	7	+3
France	1	1	0	1	5	+3
Kazakhstan	1	1	0	1	5	-1
Italy	0	0	1	2	1	-5

Results

September 1
France 2 - Italy 1 (OT)
Kazakhstan 4 - Norway 3 (OT)

September 2
France 4 - Kazakhstan 1
Norway 4 - Italy 1

September 4
Italy 2 - Kazakhstan 3
Norway 2 - France 1

Notes

• Goals Leader: Mats Zuccarello (Norway) - 5
• Points Leader: Roman Starchenko (Kazakhstan) - 3
• GAA Leader: Cristobal Huet (France) - 1.33
• Save % Leader: Cristobal Huet (France) - 0.944
• The "No Surprise" Game: Norway over Italy 4-1
• The "Upset" Game: Kazakhstan beating Norway in a shootout 4-3

What Now?

Norway: The only host in the three tournaments to make it through, Norway is back in the Olympics for a third straight time. They will face Finland, Germany, and Sweden in Group C in PyeongChang. Mats Zuccarello is now off to play in the World Cup, while the rest of the team is likely to reconvene in October for an EHIC tournament.

France: The French came so close for qualifying for the Olympics for the first time since 2002. Now they will have to wait until 2022 qualifying to break their Olympic drought. The next time France plays is in October, as they travel to Slovenia for an EHIC tournament.

Kazakhstan:  The Kazakhs had a good tournament, but the Day 2 loss against France sunk their chanced of getting back into the Games. The next time Barys Astana Kazakhstan plays will be in an EHIC tournament in December.

Italy: For a team looking to minimize naturalised players, they did well in their games. Despite managing only one point (thanks to an OT loss), they kept it close in most of their games. The next time Italy plays is in October in an EHIC tournament.