Olympics men’s hockey bracket update: Medal games set

A look at the updated Olympics men’s hockey bracket with a surprising team making the gold medal game.

The gold and bronze medal games are set in the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics men’s hockey tournament. One team comes as no surprise, while the other might be the biggest surprise in tournament history.

Olympic Athletes from Russia had no trouble in their semifinal matchup against Czech Republic, skating to a 3-0 victory. After losing 3-2 to Slovakia in the first game of group play, OAR have outscored opponents 21-3. They have outplayed teams in all three zones and have an offense that puts the fear of God into opposing defenses. OAR will be going for their first gold since 1992, when the Unified team defeated Canada 3-1 in the final game. Their last medal came in 2002, when they took home bronze.

They’ll square off against Germany, who has stunned Sweden and Canada in back-to-back games. Win or lose, Germany will have their best finish in men’s hockey history. Their previous best came in 1976 when they won bronze. They didn’t even qualify for the 2014 Olympics and have not finished higher than seventh since 1994.

OAR will be big favorites in the gold medal game, but Canada and Sweden were big favorites as well. Things don’t look too promising for Germany, but miracles do happen.

In the bronze medal game, Canada takes on the Czech Republic in a round robin rematch. Czech Republic won that contest, 3-2 in a shootout.

The gold medal matchup takes place on Saturday night at 11:10 p.m. ET. The bronze medal game is earlier in the day, with the puck dropping at 7:10 a.m. ET.

Next: Team USA women’s hockey gave us a second Miracle on Ice

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