Fourteen nations would qualify for the Olympic tournament, eight to the preliminary round, and six to the first round. The IIHF used the standings of the 1999 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships to determine qualification. First, the top six nations from Pool A would go directly to the first round. The preliminary round was made up of the nations ranked seventh and eighth, along with six others from a series of qualification tournaments. The nations ranked nine through twelve went straight to the final qualification round, with all other participants playing through pre-qualification tournaments.[1]
Regional Qualification
editTwo Regional qualifiers were used to thin the field for Pre-Qualification to sixteen nations.
- Far East
Played September 3–5, 1999 in Aomori, Japan.
| Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 5 - 0 | 9 - 0 | ||
| China | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 0 - 5 | 4 - 2 | ||
| South Korea | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0 - 9 | 2 - 4 |
- European
Played December 11–12, 1999 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Croatia should have played as well, but the proper application was accidentally not sent to the IIHF.[2]
- December 11 Yugoslavia
7 - 6 
Bulgaria - December 12 Yugoslavia 7 - 4 Bulgaria
Olympic Pre-Qualification
editFour tournaments were played February 10–13, 2000, with the winner of each advancing to the final qualification round.
- Group 1
| Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 2 - 1 | 5 - 2 | 14 - 0 | ||
| Italy | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 4 | 1 - 2 | 7 - 0 | 13 - 0 | ||
| Slovenia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 2 - 5 | 0 - 7 | 11 - 0 | ||
| Yugoslavia | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 0 - 14 | 0 - 13 | 0 - 11 |
- Group 2
| Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 3 - 5 | 5 - 0 | 3 - 1 | ||
| Kazakhstan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 9 | 4 | 5 - 3 | 2 - 4 | 13 - 2 | ||
| Estonia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 - 5 | 4 - 2 | 9 - 2 | ||
| Lithuania | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 0 | 1 - 3 | 2 - 13 | 2 - 9 |
- Group 3
| Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 7 | 6 | 5 - 2 | 5 - 4 | 9 - 1 | ||
| Poland | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 2 - 5 | 4 - 2 | 11 - 2 | ||
| Great Britain | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 4 - 5 | 2 - 4 | 4 - 0 | ||
| Romania | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 1 - 9 | 2 - 11 | 0 - 4 |
- Group 4
Played in Copenhagen, Denmark
| Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |  | |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 7 - 3 | 3 - 1 | 6 - 3 | ||
| Japan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 3 - 7 | 5 - 3 | 7 - 1 | ||
| Netherlands | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 1 - 3 | 3 - 5 | 5 - 1 | ||
| Hungary | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 0 | 3 - 6 | 1 - 7 | 1 - 5 |
Final Olympic Qualification
editTwo tournaments were played February 8–11, 2001, with 6 of the remaining 8 nations qualifying for the Olympics.
Group A
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 5 | 2002 Winter Olympics |
| 2 |  Belarus | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 4 | |
| 3 | Ukraine | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 3 | |
| 4 |  Norway (H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 18 | −10 | 0 |
All times are local (UTC+1).
| 8 February 2001 16:00 | Ukraine | 2–2 (1–2, 0–0, 0–1) | Belarus | Jordal Amfi, Oslo Attendance: 460 |
| 8 February 2001 20:00 | Norway | 4–6 (0–0, 2–2, 2–4) | Germany | Jordal Amfi, Oslo Attendance: 2,845 |
| 10 February 2001 13:30 | Norway | 1–5 (0–1, 1–2, 0–2) | Ukraine | Jordal Amfi, Oslo Attendance: 2,522 |
| 10 February 2001 18:30 | Belarus | 1–1 (1–1, 0–0, 0–0) | Germany | Jordal Amfi, Oslo Attendance: 510 |
| 11 February 2001 14:45 | Germany | 3–1 (2–1, 1–0, 0–0) | Ukraine | Furuset Forum, Oslo Attendance: 317 |
| 11 February 2001 15:30 | Belarus | 7–3 (0–0, 4–2, 3–1) | Norway | Jordal Amfi, Oslo Attendance: 1,785 |
Group B
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Latvia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 5 | 2002 Winter Olympics |
| 2 | France | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 |  Austria (H) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 3 | |
| 4 | Denmark | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 12 | −7 | 0 |
All times are local (UTC+1).
| 8 February 2001 16:00 | Latvia | 4–2 (0–2, 2–0, 2–0) | Denmark | Stadthalle, Klagenfurt Attendance: 500 |
| 8 February 2001 19:30 | France | 3–3 (1–1, 0–1, 2–1) | Austria | Stadthalle, Klagenfurt Attendance: 2,000 |
| 10 February 2001 16:00 | Latvia | 1–1 (0–1, 1–0, 0–0) | France | Stadthalle, Klagenfurt Attendance: 1,500 |
| 10 February 2001 19:30 | Austria | 6–2 (2–1, 1–0, 3–1) | Denmark | Stadthalle, Klagenfurt Attendance: 3,000 |
| 11 February 2001 16:00 | Denmark | 1–2 (0–0, 0–1, 1–1) | France | Stadthalle, Klagenfurt Attendance: 500 |
| 11 February 2001 19:30 | Austria | 3–4 (0–1, 2–2, 1–1) | Latvia | Stadthalle, Klagenfurt Attendance: 2,200 |