Ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Men's qualification

Qualification for the men's tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2015 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. The host along with the top eight teams in the world ranking received automatic berths into the Olympics, while all other teams had an opportunity to qualify for the remaining three spots in the Olympics. This was the fourth time world rankings were used but the first time that the championships three years prior was used as the final determination.
==Qualified teams==
Event 	Date 	Location 	Vacancies	Qualified
Hosts 	19 September 2014 	Tenerife 	1 	
2015 IIHF World Ranking 	2 April 2012 – 17 May 2015	Prague and Ostrava	8 	
Final qualification tournament	1–4 September 2016 	Minsk 	1 	
Final qualification tournament	1–4 September 2016 	Riga 	1 	
Final qualification tournament	1–4 September 2016 	Oslo 	1 	
Total 	 	 	12 	
;Notes
==Qualification seeding==
To qualify directly, a nation had to be ranked in the top eight following the 2015 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. Using the IIHF World Ranking points system, the current year received full value, and each preceding year was worth 25% less. Teams that wished to compete had to apply in April 2015. The following is a ranking based on points already accumulated toward Olympic qualification of all countries participating in 2015.
Points were earned based on overall finish in 2015:
Place 	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	7 	8 	9 	10 	11 	12 	13 	14 	15 	16 	17 	18 	19 	20 	...
Points	1200	1160	1120	1100	1060	1040	1020	1000	960	940	920	900	880	860	840	820	800	780	760	740	...
    	Qualified directly to Olympic Tournament
    	Entered qualifying in the final round
    	Entered qualifying in the preliminary round 2
    	Entered qualifying in the preliminary round 1
Qualifying seed	Team	WC 2015	WC 2014	OLY 2014	WC 2013	WC 2012	Total
1 	 	1200 	795 	900 	530 	265 	3690
2 	 	1160 	900 	795 	520 	300 	3675
3 	 	1060 	840 	870 	600 	260 	3630
4 	 	1040 	870 	840 	550 	275 	3575
5 	 	1120 	780 	825 	560 	255 	3540
6 	 	1100 	825 	780 	510 	280 	3495
7 	 	1000 	705 	720 	580 	230 	3235
8 	 	960 	720 	690 	500 	290 	3160
9 	 	1020 	765 	645 	430 	215 	3075
10 	 	880 	690 	750 	460 	235 	3015
11 	 	920 	675 	675 	470 	250 	2990
12 	 	900 	750 	600 	440 	240 	2930
13 	 	940 	645 	630 	480 	225 	2920
14 	 	820 	600 	765 	410 	200 	2795
15 	 	860 	660 	585 	450 	220 	2775
16 	 	840 	585 	705 	420 	195 	2745
17 	 	800 	615 	660 	400 	205 	2680
18 	 	720 	630 	615 	390 	210 	2565
19 	 	780 	540 	525 	380 	190 	2415
20 	 	740 	570 	480 	370 	185 	2345
21 	 	700 	555 	540 	340 	175 	2310
22 	 	760 	510 	510 	330 	165 	2275
Hosts 	 	680 	525 	495 	360 	170 	2230
23 	 	660 	465 	570 	350 	180 	2225
24 	 	580 	450 	555 	320 	160 	2065
25 	 	640 	480 	465 	300 	150 	2035
26 	 	620 	495 	405 	280 	130 	1930
27 	 	560 	435 	435 	310 	155 	1895
28 	 	600 	420 	420 	290 	140 	1870
29 	 	520 	390 	375 	240 	120 	1645
30 	 	500 	330 	450 	230 	135 	1645
31 	 	400 	315 	390 	200 	95 	1400
32 	 	360 	345 	360 	220 	90 	1375
 	 	540 	360 	0 	270 	110 	1280
33 	 	480 	405 	0 	260 	125 	1270
 	 	460 	375 	0 	250 	145 	1230
 	 	420 	300 	0 	210 	115 	1045
34 	 	440 	285 	0 	190 	105 	1020
35 	 	380 	240 	0 	170 	100 	890
 	 	340 	270 	0 	160 	85 	855
 	 	300 	255 	0 	180 	80 	815
 	 	320 	225 	0 	150 	75 	770
 	 	280 	210 	0 	140 	70 	700
 	 	220 	180 	0 	110 	0 	510
36 	 	240 	165 	0 	90 	0 	495
 	 	260 	195 	0 	0 	0 	455
 	 	200 	0 	0 	0 	0 	200
*Three nations were not listed who have achieved ranking points but were not participating in IIHF tournaments: Ireland, Greece, and Mongolia.
*Nations with no seeding chose not to participate in Olympic qualifying.
==Preliminary round 1==
The two lowest ranked participants played off for the right to compete in this round on 10 October 2015, in Sofia, Bulgaria. The round itself was played from 5 to 8 November 2015. The winner of each group advanced to the pre-qualification tournaments as qualifiers seven and eight ranked according their seeding.
===Playoff game===
===Group K===
Games were played at Tallinn, Estonia.
All times are local (UTC+2).
===Group L===
Games were played in Valdemoro, Spain.
All times are local (UTC+1).
==Preliminary round 2==
Three round robins were played from 11 to 14 February 2016. The teams seeded 18th, 19th, and 20th reserved the right to host these tournaments. The winners of each advanced to the final qualification tournaments as qualifiers four, five, and six, ranked according to their seeding.
===Group G===
Games were played at Cortina, Italy.
All times are local (UTC+1).
===Group H===
Games were played at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena at Budapest, Hungary.
All times are local (UTC+1).
===Group J===
Games were played in Sapporo, Japan.
All times are local (UTC+9).
==Final qualification==
Three round robins were played from 1 to 4 September 2016. The teams seeded 9th, 10th, and 11th reserved the right to host these tournaments. The top two seeded group winners qualified for the Olympic tournament Group C, and the third seeded group winner qualified for Group B.
===Group D===
Games were played in Minsk, Belarus.
All times are local (UTC+3).
===Group E===
Games were played in Riga, Latvia.
All times are local (UTC+3).
===Group F===
Games were played in Oslo, Norway.
All times are local (UTC+2).
==References==
qualification
Category:Qualification for the 2018 Winter Olympics
Category:2015 in ice hockey
Category:2016 in ice hockey