photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation
The next Winter Olympics, which will take place from 6 to 26 February, 2026 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, are just a little over a year away. However, no less than three participants in the sport of women’s ice hockey will still be decided in the days ahead. From 6 to 9 February, 2025, the German town of Bremerhaven will host the Group I leg of Olympic qualification, pitting four rather even-keeled nations in a winner-takes-all event.
With Austria, Hungary, and Germany’s national teams already qualified for the tournament in Bremerhaven, the final qualifying participant still had to be determined in an earlier qualification tournament staged in Piestany, Slovakia. The host Slovaks were able to plow through Kazakhstan, Iceland, and Slovenia rather handily to book their tickets to Bremerhaven. At that event, 16-year-old shooting star Nela Lopusanova accounted for a whopping 11 goals and 18 points in just three games.
Now only one of these four nations will find itself at the Olympics next winter.
Back in November, Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia faced one another other at the Deutschland Cup in Landshut. The German hosts won both their games by tight scores of 3-1 and 2-1 respectively, while Hungary managed a close 4-3 win over Slovakia. It’s been almost a year since Austria officially faced off against any of these opponents, defeating Hungary 3-2 on penalty shots last spring. The last meeting between Germany and Austria in a qualifier saw the Austrians prevail 3-0 in November 2021, so there should be some unsettled business here that goes beyond your casual rivalry between neighbors.
With the Olympic qualification approaching quickly, the Germans will take on Hungary in one last test game in Kassel on February 1st. Could it be a preview of the all-decisive matchup to conclude the qualifiers on February 9th?
“We already learned four years ago at the qualification tournament in Füssen that you have to take each and every opponent as seriously as possible,” said Ronja Jenike, who heads up the German women’s hockey program. “We will approach every opponent on a day-by-day basis and each challenge as if it could be our last. If things should come down to the final game against Hungary, this is a very good opponent and one we know inside and out. They would say the same about us. This is an opponent with a good coach in Pat Cortina, who we know very well here in Germany.”
Moreover, each participating Group I team will feature players who have current or past valuable experience in North America or Scandinavia, while also having played at the highest level their respective nations can offer. For those who follow modern women’s hockey, players such as Lopusanova, Austria’s Anna Meixner, Hungary’s Lotti Odnoga, and Germany’s Sandra Abstreiter and Lara Kluge are household names.
For a while, it wasn’t certain whether Kluge, who looked to be on her way to the PWHL before eventually suffering an injury in December, would be able to participate in this all-important event.
“Fortunately, after that injury heading into the holidays, Laura is back in action and will be a very important part of our collective,” Jenike said. “That she’d have the opportunity to play in the PWHL not only shows how capable a player she is, but also what kind of hard and specialized work we’ve placed in developing players like Lara and Sandra (Abstreiter) here in Germany in recent years. And this tournament will need to be a testament to that as well.”
Indeed, the proof will be in the pudding for all participants in Bremerhaven. The four nations know each other well and with only one of them qualifying for the Olympics, the margin for error will be as slim as ever.
With Austria, Hungary, and Germany’s national teams already qualified for the tournament in Bremerhaven, the final qualifying participant still had to be determined in an earlier qualification tournament staged in Piestany, Slovakia. The host Slovaks were able to plow through Kazakhstan, Iceland, and Slovenia rather handily to book their tickets to Bremerhaven. At that event, 16-year-old shooting star Nela Lopusanova accounted for a whopping 11 goals and 18 points in just three games.
Now only one of these four nations will find itself at the Olympics next winter.
Back in November, Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia faced one another other at the Deutschland Cup in Landshut. The German hosts won both their games by tight scores of 3-1 and 2-1 respectively, while Hungary managed a close 4-3 win over Slovakia. It’s been almost a year since Austria officially faced off against any of these opponents, defeating Hungary 3-2 on penalty shots last spring. The last meeting between Germany and Austria in a qualifier saw the Austrians prevail 3-0 in November 2021, so there should be some unsettled business here that goes beyond your casual rivalry between neighbors.
With the Olympic qualification approaching quickly, the Germans will take on Hungary in one last test game in Kassel on February 1st. Could it be a preview of the all-decisive matchup to conclude the qualifiers on February 9th?
“We already learned four years ago at the qualification tournament in Füssen that you have to take each and every opponent as seriously as possible,” said Ronja Jenike, who heads up the German women’s hockey program. “We will approach every opponent on a day-by-day basis and each challenge as if it could be our last. If things should come down to the final game against Hungary, this is a very good opponent and one we know inside and out. They would say the same about us. This is an opponent with a good coach in Pat Cortina, who we know very well here in Germany.”
Moreover, each participating Group I team will feature players who have current or past valuable experience in North America or Scandinavia, while also having played at the highest level their respective nations can offer. For those who follow modern women’s hockey, players such as Lopusanova, Austria’s Anna Meixner, Hungary’s Lotti Odnoga, and Germany’s Sandra Abstreiter and Lara Kluge are household names.
For a while, it wasn’t certain whether Kluge, who looked to be on her way to the PWHL before eventually suffering an injury in December, would be able to participate in this all-important event.
“Fortunately, after that injury heading into the holidays, Laura is back in action and will be a very important part of our collective,” Jenike said. “That she’d have the opportunity to play in the PWHL not only shows how capable a player she is, but also what kind of hard and specialized work we’ve placed in developing players like Lara and Sandra (Abstreiter) here in Germany in recent years. And this tournament will need to be a testament to that as well.”
Indeed, the proof will be in the pudding for all participants in Bremerhaven. The four nations know each other well and with only one of them qualifying for the Olympics, the margin for error will be as slim as ever.