Olympic Qualification Women’s Hockey

Denmark - Norway

Yesterday, the Olympic qualification started. In the first match, Denmark defeated the Netherlands 3-1. The Danes were clearly better in the first period, building a 2-0 lead. The rest of the game was also dominated by the Danes, while the Dutch had chances only during power plays. They managed to score once to make it 2-1, but the Danes sealed the win with an empty-net goal at the end to make it 3-1. Shots on goal were 26:19, but based on the overall play, the Danes had a greater advantage than the shot count suggests.

Norway’s first match was against Sweden, where they had better opportunities, but they were completely outclassed and couldn’t keep up. Sweden was 1-2 levels better. Despite the 3-0 scoreline, shots were 54-11.

A year and a half ago, at the World Championships, Denmark beat Norway 4-1 with shots 37-24.

Based on the first matches and what I saw, the Danes looked better, even though they played against weaker Dutch players, and the Norwegians played against the Swedes. The Norwegians have basically lost their chance to qualify for the Olympics, while if Denmark wins today, they will be very close, as it’s likely that the best second-place team will also qualify.

I see Denmark as the favorite, so I must place a bet on them to win at 2.55 on Tipsport.

Denmark win @2.55, 3/5