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

It was a battle until the end with the host Belarus and Slovenia going toe-to-toe on the last day. The ending was one the home crowd was not happy about, as Slovenia won in the shootout to advance to the Olympics. The lost placed Belarus in second place and out of the Olympics. Denmark finished in third with just one win. Poland, who needed to qualify to get this far, goes home pointless.

Note: Most information from the fancy IIHF website.

Standings

Team	Wins	OTW/SOW	OTL/SOL	Losses	Points	Goal Diff.
Slovenia	2	1	0	0	8	+9
Belarus	2	0	1	0	7	+4
Denmark	1	0	0	2	3	-3
Poland	0	0	0	3	0	-10

Results

September 1
Slovenia 6 - Poland 1
Denmark 2 - Belarus 5

September 2
Slovenia 3 - Denmark 0
Belarus 5 - Poland 3

September 4
Poland 2 - Denmark 5
Belarus 2 - Slovenia 3 (SO)

Notes

• Goals Leader: Andrei Stepanov (Belarus), Anze Kopitar (Slovenia), Rok Ticar (Slovenia) - 3 
• Points Leader: Sergei Kostitsyn (Belarus) - 6
• GAA Leader: Gaspar Kroselj (Slovenia) - 0.97
• Save % Leader: Gaspar Kroselj (Slovenia) - 0.963
• The "No Surprise" Game: Slovenia over Poland 6-1
• The "Upset" Game: Slovenia edging out a shootout win over the host Belarus 3-2

What Now?

Slovenia: Drinks, as they qualify for the Olympics for the second time in a row. If Kopitar pulls out of the World Cup, it'll be because he won't be over the hangover from celebrating this. Slovenia will be in PyeongChang, facing Russia, Slovakia, and the U.S. in Group B. For now, while Kopitar has the World Cup, the rest of the team will play internationally in October when they host an EIHC tournament.

Belarus: It was heartbreak for the host in Minsk. The shootout loss means they have to wait until 2022 qualifying to make it back into the Olympics. For now, they will be back at it in late October, playing in an EHIC tournament (in Slovenia of all places).

Denmark: A team that looked good on paper fizzled against the top teams. It was a tough group though, and managed to get a win out of it. They aren't scheduled to play internationally until February.

Poland: To Poland's credit, they put up a fight at times and were never shutout. Their Olympic hopes are over now, and will gear up as they host an EIHC tournament in December.