Hockey's powerhouses set to resume rivalries in Beijing

Even without superstars from the NHL, ice hockey at the Beijing Winter Olympics remains an intriguing sport to watch, with the unpredictable and fierce battles for national pride set to serve up a real treat.

Despite the NHL's last-minute call to withdraw from the Olympics due to COVID-19's disruption on its season, the men's tournament at Beijing 2022 promises to be an action-packed showpiece with opportunities opened up for more countries to fight for medals in the Chinese capital.

The Olympic tournament features three four-team groups, where three group winners and the best second-ranked team will advance to the quarterfinals, with playoffs to decide the remaining four quarterfinalists. The men's competition will take place from Feb 9-20, mainly at the National Indoor Stadium.

As the sport's traditional powerhouses,Canada and the United States still boast top rosters with talents from the collegiate ranks and overseas leagues replacing the NHL stars, and making no secret of their ambitions to go for gold at the Beijing Games.

Without Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Conner McDavid (Edmonton Oilers) at his disposal, Canada's head coach Claude Julien will have to dig deep for experience and leadership from a lower-profile roster to try to bring home the country's third Olympic gold since his 2010 home Games in Vancouver.

As the second most affected nation by the NHL's absence, Team USA has called up a 25-man roster with the majority drafted from the NCAA coached by David Quinn, who will count on seven ex-NHL players, including veteran forward Brian O'Neill and defenseman Steven Kampfer, to lead the charge for a much deeper run than the country's seventh-place finish at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in the Republic of Korea.

"We all had to change gears in December when the NHL announced it wasn't going," Quinn told ESPN in December. "We feel very confident with the group we have chosen. We're excited about the mix. I think it will be a great blend of youth and experience."

The power shift has seen the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) emerge as the favorite to retain its gold in Beijing with its lesser reliance on NHL firepower proving a game changer. Yet, the legendary Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) will have to sit out for a second straight Games following the no-show of NHL players at Pyeongchang 2018.

Other European powers, such as Germany, the silver-winning nation at Pyeongchang 2018, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Finland, are also in the medal mix.

Four years ago in Pyeongchang, when NHL players were also absent, Germany delivered the upset of the tournament by stunning Canada 4-3 in the semifinals to meet the ROC in the final before eventually coming away with silver to mark the country's best ever result in hockey at the Winter Olympics.

"Especially without the NHL players, everything would be possible again," said Marco Sturm, assistant coach of the Los Angeles Kings, who guided Germany to silver at Pyeongchang 2018.

Girl power

On the women's side, it seems that the sport's fiercest rivalry is set to resume when the 10-nation tournament opens on Feb 3 at Beijing's Wukesong Arena.

The United States is the defending Olympic champion after beating Canada in a nail-biting 3-2 shootout win at Pyeongchang 2018 to end its rival's run of four Olympic titles.

Canada bounced back in August by winning the world championship crown with a 3-2 overtime win.

Canada appears to have the advantage with speed and experience, playing an up-tempo, transition attack under head coach Troy Ryan, whose system leans heavily on play-making defenders.

The US relies more on a puck-control offensive style to set up chances for Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter, who returns after being left off the 2018 roster.

Barring what would be considered a major upset, the rest of the field continues to play catch-up, with Finland, Switzerland,ROC and potentially the up-and-coming Czech Republic vying for bronze.

Host China has sent a team mixed with homegrown talents and North American-born players with Chinese heritage under the helm of American coach Brian Idalski.

With their men's counterpart overwhelmed by mighty group opponents Canada, USA and Germany, the Chinese women's team is raring to fight for a top-four finish and earn some kudos on home ice.