By George Da Silva – National Teams of Ice Hockey
Ten countries qualified for the tournament; six of them did so automatically due to their ranking by the International Ice Hockey Federation. (USA, Canada, Finland, Russia, Switzerland & Japan. ) The women’s ice hockey tournament will take place between 3 and 17 February 2022 in Beijing, China. China is the host country, and the U.S. is the defending champion.
Three other teams qualified through qualification tournaments. (Czechia, Denmark and Sweden)
Ten teams will be divided into two groups made up of five teams each, in which each team will play the other once. All teams from Group A and the top three ranked teams from Group B will advance to the quarterfinals. A knockout system will follow the group stage.
Teams will be ranked in each group according to the following criterion: Number of points (3 points for regulation-time wins, 2 points for overtime or shootout wins, 1 point for a regulation-time defeat);
If two teams are tied on points, the head-to-head match will determine their ranking; if three or four teams are tied on points, the following criteria will apply (if, after applying a criterion, only two teams remain tied, the head-to-head match will determine their ranking)
- The number of points earned in head-to-head games between the teams concerned.
- The goal differential in head-to-head games between the teams concerned.
- Number of goals score in head-to-head games between the teams concerned.
- If three teams are tied, result of head-to-head games between each team and the remaining team in the group (points, goal difference, goals scored)
- Placement in the 2021 IIHF World Ranking.
