With the conclusion of the three men’s final Olympic qualification tournaments this weekend, the final pieces of the Vancouver puzzle fell into place as the preliminary round groups for the men’s hockey Olympic tournament are now confirmed.

Germany, ranked 10th in the IIHF World Ranking is the top-seeded team of the three qualifiers. Latvia, ranked 11th, is the second-highest team to qualify, while 12th-ranked Norway rounds out the trio. The three best teams, according to the IIHF World Ranking, won their respective qualification tournaments.

Based on this weekend’s results, the preliminary round picture next February in Vancouver when the Olympic Winter Games kicks off will be as follows:

Group A: Canada, United States, Switzerland, Norway

Group B: Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia

Group C: Sweden, Finland, Belarus, Germany

The Olympic Winter Games begin on February 16, 2010, in Vancouver, Canada. The gold medal will be awarded on February 28th.

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Germany sets a date for 2010