# Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Women's qualification

Qualification for the women's tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2004 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships. The top four teams in the World Ranking received automatic berths into the Olympics, Italy received an automatic berth as host, and all other teams had an opportunity to qualify for the remaining three spots in the Olympics.

## Qualified Teams

| Event | Date | Location | Vacancies | Qualified |
| 2004 IIHF World Ranking | 5 March 2001 – 6 April 2004 | Halifax | 4 | Canada United States Finland Sweden |
| Qualification tournament | 11–13 November 2004 | Podolsk | 1 | Russia |
| Qualification tournament | 11–14 November 2004 | Bad Tölz | 1 | Germany |
| Qualification tournament | 11–14 November 2004 | Beijing | 1 | Switzerland |
| Host | | | 1 | Italy |
| TOTAL | | | 8 | |

### Notes

* $^a$ 2004 IIHF World Ranking were comprising the following events: 2000 World Championship, 2001 World Championship, 2002 Winter Olympic Games and 2004 World Championship.
* $^b$ Halifax was the site for 2004 World Championship; at the conclusion of the tournament the ranking were finalized with regards to the qualification slots.

## IIHF World Ranking

* Qualified directly to Olympic Tournament
* Qualification tournament
| Rank | Team | WC 2004 (100%) | OLY 2002 (75%) | WC 2001 (50%) | WC 2000 (25%) | Total |
| 1 | Canada | 1200 | 1200 | 1200 | 1200 | 3000 |
| 2 | United States | 1160 | 1160 | 1160 | 1160 | 2900 |
| 3 | Finland | 1120 | 1100 | 1100 | 1120 | 2775 |
| 4 | Sweden | 1100 | 1120 | 1020 | 1100 | 2725 |
| 5 | Russia | 1060 | 1060 | 1120 | 1060 | 2680 |
| 6 | Germany | 1040 | 1040 | 1060 | 1020 | 2605 |
| 7 | China | 1020 | 1020 | 1040 | 1040 | 2565 |
| 8 | Switzerland | 1000 | 960 | 960 | 940 | 2435 |
| 9 | Kazakhstan | 940 | 1000 | 1000 | 960 | 2430 |
| 10 | Japan | 980 | 940 | 940 | 1000 | 2405 |
| 11 | Czech Republic | 920 | | 920 | 840 | 1590 |
| 12 | Latvia | 900 | | 860 | 860 | 1545 |
| 13 | France | 880 | | 880 | 880 | 1540 |
| 14 | Norway | 860 | | 840 | 920 | 1510 |
| 15 | North Korea | 840 | | 900 | 800 | 1490 |
| 16 | Denmark | 820 | | 820 | 900 | 1455 |
| 17 | Italy | 800 | | 760 | 820 | 1385 |
| 18 | Slovakia | 780 | | 800 | 780 | 1375 |
| 19 | Netherlands | 760 | | 780 | 720 | 1330 |
| 20 | Great Britain | 720 | | 740 | 760 | 1280 |
| 21 | Australia | 740 | | 720 | 680 | 1270 |
| 22 | Belgium | 640 | | 700 | 740 | 1175 |
| 23 | Hungary | 660 | | 660 | 700 | 1165 |
| 24 | Slovenia | 680 | | 620 | | 990 |
| 25 | Romania | 620 | | 640 | | 940 |
| 26 | Austria | 700 | | | | 700 |
| 27 | South Korea | 600 | | | | 600 |
| 28 | South Africa | | | 680 | 660 | 505 |
* North Korea and Denmark chose not to participate in Olympic qualifying.

## Qualification Tournaments

Three round-robins were played from 11 to 14 November 2004. The teams ranked 5th, 6th and 7th reserved the right to host these tournaments. The three group winners qualified for the Olympic tournament.

### Group A

Games were played in Podolsk, Russia.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Russia (H) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 4 | 2006 Winter Olympics |
| 2 | Japan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 2 | |
| 3 | Czech Republic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 | |

### Group B

Games were played in Bad Tölz, Germany.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Germany (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2 | +18 | 6 | 2006 Winter Olympics |
| 2 | Kazakhstan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 6 | +15 | 4 | |
| 3 | Latvia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 2 | |
| 4 | Slovenia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 38 | −35 | 0 | |

### Group C

Games were played in Beijing, China.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Switzerland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 6 | 2006 Winter Olympics |
| 2 | China (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 4 | +15 | 4 | |
| 3 | France | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 13 | −5 | 2 | |
| 4 | Norway | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 22 | −20 | 0 | |