The cast is complete. With less than 18 months to go until the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games, the final three spots in the men's Olympic ice hockey tournament have been decided after three qualifying competitions held over the weekend. By winning their respective tournaments, Slovakia, Latvia and Denmark have secured their spots at the next Winter Games. Bronze medallists at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games (without NHL players), Slovakia beat Kazakhstan 3-1 in the final game in Bratislava. Latvia, for its part, beat France 5-2 in Riga. It qualifies for the sixth time in seven editions of the Games. Finally, Denmark beat Norway 4-1 and secured its spot for the second time in a row. The top eight nations in the world rankings after the 2023 World Championship had already secured their presence in the next 12-team Olympic tournament: Canada, Finland, Russia, the United States, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Host country Italy automatically qualified. The only unknown: Russia. Banned from international competitions since February 2022, its participation is not guaranteed. In the event that its suspension remains in place by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), its place would go to France, the highest-ranked team to have finished second in the three qualifying tournaments.
